(CNN) Covid-19 was the last thing on his mind when he went to a crowded bar in Scottsdale, Arizona, Jimmy Flores said.
"We were on the verge of reopening, and we didn't really care about Covid, to be honest with you," Flores said.
Two days later, he awoke with a fever of 103 and body sores, Flores told CNN's Erin Burnett. A week later, he was in the hospital, where he was put on a breathing tube during his week stay.
Arizona has been one of the harder hit areas in the pandemic recently, with cases soaring. The state has at least 84,093 people infected, up from 46,689 reported June 19.
That night at the bar, Flores said he was there with friends and "we just were enjoying our life during that time," he said.
The bar was packed with between 300 and 500 people, Flores said.
But days later, when the fever hit, "it was pretty bad. I knew that something was wrong," Flores said. His test for Covid-19 came back positive days later.
The cough started when he took a deep breath, Flores said.
"Within 24 hours I couldn't take a small breath without fearing for my life," he said.
Before contracting the virus, Flores said, he was active, went to the gym and had no pre-existing conditions.
"I would never have imagined in a million years that I would get this virus the way that I did," becoming so sick about a week after, Flores said.
"When I decided to go to the hospital, I also decided to make this message public, because I knew I made a mistake," Flores said.