Jon Gosselin Thankful for 'Second Chance' After Terrifying COVID-19 Battle, 104.8-Degree Fever

Former "Jon & Kate Plus 8" star Jon Gosselin opened up about his terrifying battle with COVID-19 that saw him hospitalized with an extremely high fever and very nearly put on a ventilator.

Now, back home but still recovering, Gosselin says he's thankful for this "second chance" at life and hopes that he'll be able to use it to reconnect with the six of his eight children he is currently estranged from.

Gosselin has custody of two of his 16-year-old sextuplets, Hannah and Collin, while ex-wife Kate has custody of the other four, Aaden, Alexis, Joel and Leah. He is also estranged from their 20-year-old twins, Cara and Madelyn.

In a segment airing January 14 on "The Dr. Oz Show," Gosselin shares that he was hospitalized with a 104.8-degree temperature. There, he experienced what many have said about the growing problems with hospitals at or over capacity amid spiking Covid cases.

"I was in a wheelchair. I had to wait in the ER," Gosselin told Oz. ""It was packed, like the hospital was full, and then they put me on a gurney and put me in the hallway in the waiting room, so I could get a temporary room."

"Then, once they evaluated me and once they drew my blood and did all my blood work, all of a sudden I'm getting antibiotics, steroids and a plasma antibody transfusion for Covid," he continued. "It happened really fast."

By this point, Gosselin said he was so out of it that it took him three days to even realize he was in the hospital. In a segment shared by People, Gosselin described a surprising type of "Covid pneumonia," where he didn't necessarily feel the pneumonia. Rather, he felt absolutely exhausted.

"When you went to move or do anything and you felt so weak and you wanted to pass out, it was really scary," he said. "You go from perfectly healthy one week, to you can't do anything the next week. It was so weird. It's still weird now."

He said things got so bad, that he was told that had he delayed treatment even a little bit longer, he might have ended up having to be put on a ventilator, which Oz pointed out "takes the mortality rate up dramatically."

The experience left him contemplative of the strained relationship he currently has with six of his children. When Oz asked him what message he might wish to send to them in an ET exclusive clip, Gosselin said, "Just tell them I love them and I'm just thinking of the future more."

More specifically, he added, "I hope they develop a relationship with Hannah and Collin. I hope that one day I can be part of your life. I'm glad that I got a second chance."

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