A man in Massachusetts has recovered from the coronavirus despite having severe, pre-existing lung damage.

The doctors who treated him are calling him the "miracle man."

On 11 January, George Thomann's lung collapsed, and he was rushed to an area hospital for treatment.

According to WCVB 5 Boston, while Mr Thomann was recovering from his injuries at Spaulding Nursing and Therapy Center in Brighton, Massachusetts, he suffered another collapsed lung. As he fought to recover from the second collapse, his face and body began to swell as air leaked from his damaged lungs.

Once again Mr Thomann found himself at the mercy of his damaged lungs, lying in recovery at the health centre. The whole ordeal had kept him in the hospital for the entirety of February and the beginning of March.

As the US began responding to coronavirus cases in Washington, Mr Thomann continued his recovery in Spaulding Hospital for Continuing Care in Cambridge. There were no confirmed cases of the virus in his hospital. Until there was.

"How I got it, I don't know," Mr Thomann told WCVB 5 Boston. "No other staff or patient had that virus."

Though the majority of individuals who are infected with coronavirus survive, those who are most at risk are the immunocompromised, the elderly and those with comorbidities, especially if they're of a respiratory nature.

Having just suffered two collapsed lungs, Mr Thomann was especially susceptible to the virus.

He was placed into a 19-day quarantine as he waited out his infection.

Despite having two severely damaged lungs and a respiratory illness that has killed nearly 175,000 people since January, Mr Thomann pulled through and was recently released from the hospital.

He said his granddaughters helped him on his road to recovery and thanked the healthcare workers at the hospital for saving his life.

"I thanked them all. I said, 'You folks deserve all the credit, you're on the front line, you're putting your life in jeopardy, for myself and everyone else there who has this virus, and I give you a lot of credit for that,'" Mr Thomann said.

As he was discharged from the hospital, the staff played Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," a show of support that brought Mr Thomann to tears.