Stephen A. Smith returns to 'First Take,' talks COVID-19 battle: 'I didn’t know if I was gonna make it'

Stephen A. Smith returned to ESPN's "First Take" on Monday after battling COVID-19, which the commentator said, "I wouldn't be here" if he wasn't vaccinated as he spent New Year's Day in a hospital.

Smith announced on the show that he tested positive for the virus on Dec. 21, but said at the time he was only experiencing mild symptoms. When the 54-year-old returned to the show on Monday, he said "for me personally, it hit me differently."

"I had 103 degree fever every night, woke up with chills, pool of sweat, headaches with massive coughing profusely," Smith said on-air. "It got to a point that right before New Year's Eve, I was in the hospital New Year's Eve into New Year's Day. That's how I brought in the new year.

He added that doctors told him he would have died in he hadn't been vaccinated, but he is now on his road to recovery.

"They told me had I not been vaccinated, I wouldn't be here. That's how bad I was," Smith said. "I had pneumonia in both lungs. My liver was bad. It had ravaged me to the point where even now I have monitor my volume, get to the gym every day, walk before you run. Work your way back because I’m still not 100 percent with my lungs."

Smith also advocated for people to continue wearing masks amid the omicron variant surge, as "everybody's different." He noted his sister, who smokes, got COVID but felt better in less than a week. He also wrote on Twitter "COVID is real, folks."

"The one thing to emphasize the importance of, no matter how you feel about the vaccine, that mask is important. The reason why the mask is so important is you don’t know how the next person is affected. How I’m affected is different from you are affected.

He also expressed his excitement to be back on the air.

"I’m ecstatic to be back. I’ve missed being at work. I’ve used more sick days in the last month than I’ve used in my 28-year career in this business combined. I don’t take many sick days, but I had to do it this month just to survive. And I can’t tell you how lucky and sincerely blessed I am to be sitting here today, because two-and-a-half, three weeks ago, I didn’t know if I was gonna make it," Smith said.

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stephen A. Smith says he would have died from COVID if not vaccinated