This Russian beauty has a thriving career as a model, a big You Tube following and nearly 1M Instagram followers.
Nastya Swan’s life in New York City was on the up and up until she came down with COVID-19 in late March.
And now the 19-year-old beauty tells DailyMail.com that even though she felt she was going to ‘die’ from a high fever and breathing issues, she was turned away from a New York City hospital because the staff felt she did not urgently need life support.
Scary incident: Nastya Swan’s life in New York City was on the up and up until she came down with COVID-19 in late March. And now the 19-year-old beauty tells DailyMail.com that even though she felt she was going to ‘die’ from a high fever and breathing issues, she was turned away from a New York City hospital
So far in the US there are over 45K deaths from COVID-19 with 826K cases. Worldwide there are over 178K deaths and 2.5M cases.
Nastya has modeled for Zara, Bershka, Under Armour, Nike, Puma, Dolce & Gabbana, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Maybelline, La Mer, Estée Lauder and Guess.
‘Back in February and early March, I was very complacent about the virus and overall pandemic when watching the news,’ began the cover girl who talked to DailyMail.
‘I didn’t think it wouldn’t affect me as I’m young and went about life as normally as possible in the circumstances.’
Not sick enough: The Guess model was turned away from a New York City hospital because the staff felt she did not urgently need life support
Model life: The star, left, with her friend, Victoria’s Secret model Adrian Lima,right
In the early days of the virus, people believed that only the older crowd came down with COVID-19.
That has since proved to be not true and the CDC has warned it could strike anyone.
‘Around March 20th, I started to feel sick in a way I had never felt before and thought it was an allergic reaction to something,’ said the fitness fanatic.
‘The next morning I woke up and had difficulty breathing and with very high fever, headaches and I had never felt so tired before.
She thought she was too young: ‘Back in February and early March, I was very complacent about the virus and overall pandemic when watching the news,’ began the cover girl who talked to DailyMail. ‘I didn’t think it wouldn’t affect me as I’m young and went about life as normally as possible in the circumstances’
‘Over the next week my condition got worse and I lost any sense of taste and smell; I had started to feel like I was going to die as it felt like I was under water when breathing.’
And then she could not get the help she needed.
‘Until then I had waited to get tested as there weren’t enough tests but then I traveled an hour and a half upstate and got tested. All my fears came true when a few days later, I got the positive test results,’ said Swan.
No tests for her: And then she could not get the help she needed. ‘Until then I had waited to get tested as there weren’t enough tests but then I traveled an hour and a half upstate and got tested. All my fears came true when a few days later, I got the positive test results,’ said Swan
‘While I could consult doctors, I have never felt so desperate and helpless, knowing there was no specific medication or treatment for relief let alone cure.
‘NYC Hospitals were so packed and I was told I could only be admitted if urgent life support was needed similar to the rest of the patients.’
So she had to recover on her own.
‘My peak illness lasted three weeks but as I got physically better slowly, I was increasingly humbled and the situation that I was not taking seriously before had a whole new and personal meaning,’ she said.
Turned away: ‘While I could consult doctors, I have never felt so desperate and helpless, knowing there was no specific medication or treatment for relief let alone cure. ‘NYC Hospitals were so packed and I was told I could only be admitted if urgent life support was needed similar to the rest of the patients’
And Swan wants to pass on a warning to others.
‘I now realize how important all the social distancing guidelines are in saving people’s lives- this virus doesn’t discriminate based on age, race, sex or health conditions. I’m also working on donating plasma to help save other lives in this horrific pandemic,’ she added.
Three years ago she spoke with Hollywood Stage magazine about how she wants to empower other teens.
‘When I was 13 years old I was an absolutely fearless and dreamy girl, but I suffered from a feeling of neglect with a lack of attention being shown from my family, mainly because they were always busy with their own work,’ she said.
Fashion crowd: And here she is seen on the the left with a friend at the Badgley Mischka front row during New York Fashion Week in 2019
‘I decided one day to create a YouTube channel to share my life with other people. I told myself that I just wanted to find voices of support and empathy all around the world. I had been sharing my travels, interests, and thoughts on certain situations in my life and people started to follow me and moreover, started to relate.’
And she learned from hard experience.
‘I got bullied at school for doing something unusual, which is obvious, but I knew that I was on the right path, so I never considered the need to stop creating the content and put it out,’ she said.
‘While all my teenage friends were drinking, partying or hanging out, I was basically growing my own business. My passion was fuel for my work and every day I tried to improve my skills in editing, shooting videos and talking openly with the camera. I’m proud and happy that I kept myself busy from such a young age.
‘Now, I could not be more grateful for the audience I have built, because they always support me, get my back and don’t let me give up.’
