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Updated Apr 28, 2026Amanda Kloots Remembers Late Husband Nick Cordero a Year After His Hospitalization
Cordero passed away from COVID at age 41.
Amanda Kloots / Instagram
In July 2020, fitness instructor Amanda Kloots, the wife of Broadway star Nick Cordero, made the unimaginably difficult announcement that her husband had passed away from coronavirus-related complications. Now, she's expressing support to anyone who's lost a partner or loved one from the pandemic that took her husband's life at age 41. On the one-year anniversary of last seeing her husband, Kloots took to Instagram to recall the events that would eventually lead to the family's heartbreaking three months ahead.
"March 30, 2020 Elvis and I drove Nick to the emergency room at Cedar Sinai. With Covid restrictions in place, we didn't know which entrance was even open, so I left him on the corner. We didn't hug. We didn't kiss goodbye. We couldn't," recalled Kloots. "It was clear he was sick with something and we couldn't take any risks. I don't even know if he said bye to Elvis or if we said, 'I love you.' I told him I'd stay nearby and to call me when he's done. We walked to The Grove to kill time. We thought it would be a couple hours. That was the last day I saw Nick as Nick."
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"My heart breaks today. I wish I could go back in time, run to him as he was walking away, grab him, kiss him and hold him in my arms," she continued. "On April 1, he went on the ventilator and I never spoke to him again. To anyone, who like me, that dropped their person off at the hospital never to really 'see' them again, I'm thinking and praying for you today. This day is just hard, there's no other way to say it." More than half a million Americans have lost their lives from COVID-19.
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Kloots and Cordero originally met while working on "Bullets Over Broadway," the show for which Cordero earned his Tony nomination; importantly, their first-dance song at their September 2017 wedding in NYC was the same tune that Cordero used to audition for "Bullets," according to Playbill.com. In 2019, they welcomed their first child together, baby Elvis.
The couple eventually moved to Los Angeles for Cordero to star in "Rock of Ages" in Hollywood and even bought a new home to start their new life chapter together. In March 2020, on the date Kloots had mentioned, Cordero was brought into the ICU at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after he had a hard time breathing. Doctors initially diagnosed him with pneumonia, but the Broadway star subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 after three tests. (As recalled, Kloots first revealed her husband's dire condition in late March, without knowing how his battle with COVID-19 would end.)
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Upon entering the hospital, Cordero's condition continued to decline and he was put into a medically induced coma two days later. In April 2020, Kloots had to make the difficult decision to have the Broadway star's leg amputated. The decision came after he began to develop blood clots as a result of being put on a ventilator and an ECMO machine, which helps to oxygenate the blood. "It came down to a point where honestly it was life or leg, and we had to choose life," Kloots previously told Today, just days after the surgery. "I choose life."
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Despite the challenges, Kloots remained positive and hopeful her husband would wake up. "Part of our wedding dance ❤️that our friends @swaywithmeny choreographed for us," Kloots captioned a video, in which she and Cordero energetically twirl across the dance floor as guests cheer them on. "I love dancing with you @nickcordero1 and we WILL dance again!"
Sadly on July 5, Cordero passed away leaving behind his wife and young son. "God has another angel in heaven now," the fitness star wrote at the time. "My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth. I am in disbelief and hurting everywhere. My heart is broken as I cannot imagine our lives without him. Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone's friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk. He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband. Elvis and I will miss him in everything we do, everyday."
The fitness instructor and former Radio City Rockette had been a source of inspiration to Cordero's fans all throughout his hospitalization. In an effort to keep morale high, she has been encouraging her Instagram followers to sing and dance to Cordero's songs every day using the hashtag #wakeupnick. "It is honestly how I'm getting through this," she told Today. "People I don't even know all over the world are joining me every day at 3 p.m. to sing his song so he can hear us."
Additionally, Kloots had sent recorded videos of herself and Elvis to Cordero's phone so that they would be there for him if he awoke. "Every day I film a home video for Nick," she explained on her Instagram. "I send it to his phone so that when he wakes up he can watch them and feel like he's been with Elvis and I every day. … My great friends have encouraged me to try to laugh at least once a day. When I saw this video, I definitely let out a chuckle. I hope you do too."
A GoFundMe for Kloots and Cordero was organized by friends of the couple last spring and it surpassed its initial goal. Funds went toward helping Kloots with hospital bills. After three months, Kloots also included a note thanking the medical professionals who monitored her late husband. "To Nicks extraordinary doctor, Dr. David Ng, you were my positive doctor!" she wrote on Instagram. "There are not many doctors like you. Kind, smart, compassionate, assertive and always eager to listen to my crazy ideas or call yet another doctor for me for a second opinion. You're a diamond in the rough."
"I cannot begin to thank everyone enough for the outpour of love, support and help we've received these last 95 days," she previously expressed. "You have no idea how much you lifted my spirits at 3pm everyday as the world sang Nicks song, Live Your Life. We sang it to him today, holding his hands. As I sang the last line to him, 'they'll give you hell but don't you light them kill your light not without a fight. Live your life,' I smiled because he definitely put up a fight. I will love you forever and always my sweet man."
