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A otherwise healthy Tucsonan was in a coma for 19 days fighting the H1N1 virus. Now, feeling much better, he describes what it was like.

Leo Felix Jr. was orginally diagnosed with pneumonia in Nogales. He was given some medicine, and sent home. From there Leo got much, much worse.

Now he says he feels much better. So much so, he didn't even want to lie in his hospital bed Friday. Just days earlier it was a different story. He was in ICU at University Medical Center, in an induced coma for 19 days, fighting for his life with the H1N1 virus.

Doctors told his father, Leo Felix Sr., he was borderline.

"We were so devastated when we heard this, knowing he was between life and death here," Felix Sr. said.

He says it was hard to believe, because his son is just 27 and as far as they know, he has no underlying health conditions.

"Strong guy, always healthy, never gotten sick, always been active, hard working and it hit him," Felix Sr. said.

It hit him with a fever of 105, constant vomiting, chest pain and body aches. His kidneys were even shutting down.

"It's just painful," Felix Jr. said.

Doctors say this isn't out of the ordinary. They're seeing more and more healthy children and adults in the hospital fighting the virus.

"I didn't think it would hit this hard though," Felix Sr. said.

His doctor at UMC released Leo on Friday but after losing 30 pounds, he has to go through physical therapy to get his strength back.

Patti Woodcock, a spokesperson with the Pima County Health Department, says so far seven people in the county have died from the virus but all of them had underlying health conditions.