BodyBlendz founder Theo Ikosidekas opens up the night he almost died – and the life-changing ADHD diagnosis he never saw coming

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An Australian beauty entrepreneur has a new lease on life after he nearly died of Covid following early symptoms of a ‘common cold’.

Theo Ikosidekas, 36, from Melbourne, was a self-described ‘workaholic’ before being struck down by a deadly strain of Covid in 2021 that put him in an induced coma for two weeks. 

After being told he would need to be put into a coma because his oxygen levels were dangerously low, he frantically texted and emailed his employees in the middle of the night to ensure his brand BodyBlendz would stay afloat while he was gone. 

The brand skyrocketed to success with its famous natural coffee scrub and has since expanded to a hugely successful range of beauty and skin products.

While Theo eventually overcame his life-threatening illness he spent months learning how to walk again – and slowly learned to live life without being consumed by work. 

‘It was a different normal but finally I was able to stand on my feet and get back into what I love doing. With every bad situation, there is a positive and you should utilise it to your full potential,’ Theo told FEMAIL.

Theo started experiencing symptoms similar to the common cold one Friday in October of 2021 when Covid’s Delta strain was rife in Melbourne. 

His age group was not yet eligible for the new vaccine and rapid antigen tests weren’t readily available. 

By Saturday, lethargy had set in and on Sunday night Theo was so exhausted and short of breath he had to call an ambulance. 

Medical staff informed Theo his oxygen levels were sitting dangerously low at around 70 per cent. Anything below 90 per cent is cause for urgent medical intervention. 

He was told he would need to go into a medically-induced coma and be put on a ventilator to prevent brain damage; they didn’t know how long he would be out for.

Patients with oxygen deprivation are sometimes put into a coma to reduce brain swelling and inflammation that can cause brain damage. 

While he was in a life-threatening situation, Theo was mainly concerned about his business still being able to function in his absence. In hindsight he admits this was probably a subconscious distraction from the scary situation. 

‘I remember so vividly asking, “Do you know how long I’m gonna be unconscious for?” They said no, it was very vague,’ he said.   

‘I’m in this state of mind, freaking out but thinking business like, “Okay, I need to give passwords out. Only I have access to the business bank accounts” while they’re telling me I’m about to be put to sleep.’

He said being in a coma was like having a series of strange dreams and nightmares.

‘It’s so weird to flash back to these sort of nightmares that you would have. They give you some sort of sedation medication, but you are still put to sleep,’ Theo explained. 

‘I remember in the dream I was in a hospital and family and friends were always visiting me. I was trying to talk to them but no one was responsive to me.’

However, due to Covid restrictions, Theo was not able to have any visitors. His family were getting daily phone calls with updates on his condition.

When he was stabilised and woke 15 days later, he found out his oxygen levels dropped because the Covid had progressed to pneumonia and he contracted a secondary infection while in the ICU.

‘I remember waking up and I was connected to a catheter… I didn’t know what had just happened,’ he recalled. 

‘I’ve got bruising above my ribs from all the tubes and scarring on my face from bed sores. They’re constant reminders of what I went through.’

Theo spent a week in the respiratory ward determined to build his strength and learn how to walk again after losing his muscle function while in the coma. 

When he was released from hospital he could only walk short distances and was forced to take a step back from his business and prioritise resting and recuperation. 

‘I was tired when I got home but it was great because the hospital offered at-home care where different therapists would come in every few days,’ he said. 

As he recovered, Theo gradually picked up work again and was back at it by early 2022 without returning to his former ‘workaholic’ habits and relinquishing control to his team.  

‘Having to trust my team and not do everything myself has been the greatest learning for BodyBlendz and myself as an entrepreneur,’ he said. 

‘Like so many other start-ups you think you have to do everything yourself, it wasn’t until I was literally forced to hand things over that I realised not only was this possible it’s actually led to huge growth.’

Theo said he focuses on getting plenty of ‘me time’ and started seeing a psychiatrist after suffering PTSD from being in a coma which led to a life-changing ADHD diagnosis. 

‘I thought the issues I was facing were part of the Covid recovery – but nearly two years into my recovery I noticed they weren’t going away,’ he said. 

‘I struggled to focus, to finish tasks. Not only that, family made me realise that these things had always been a struggle for me, they were just heightened now.’

He said he had a very ‘all or nothing’ approach to his work in that he could do ‘two months of work in a week’ and then burn out and feel exhausted. 

Theo found a combination of medication through trial and error as well as management strategies that worked to his strengths and alleviated his more challenging symptoms. 

‘Medication is just one part of managing ADHD. Therapy, lifestyle adjustments, and self-awareness play equally crucial roles and it’s something I am working on,’ he said. 

‘I just can’t believe it’s taken me until my mid-thirties to work out what was wrong.’

He views his ADHD as a superpower in that it brings unique strengths, including creativity, hyper-focus abilities and a distinct way of thinking. 

Theo being able to manage and utilise his ADHD coupled with his new work-life balance has better equipped him to grow the brand.

The BodyBlendz range is now available at Chemist Warehouse and Woolworths and Theo is setting his sights on stocking the brand internationally.

He wants fellow entrepreneurs facing similar challenges to ’embrace your unique brain’, and play to their strengths and weaknesses.