Zach Braff, 45, and his girlfriend Florence Pugh, 24, have been seen grabbing groceries in Hollywood, just days after the death of Braff’s friend Nick Cordero.
The Scrubs star and his Midsommar actress lady love both made sure to mask up for the outing, which took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic that claimed the life of Broadway star Cordero.
‘I want to make him proud,’ Braff said of the Bullets Over Broadway actor during an emotional episode of his Fake Doctors, Real Friends podcast with co-host Donald Faison on Tuesday.
Little Women star Pugh looked marvelous in a green jumpsuit for the outing, and accessorized with a Louis Vuitton purse.
Her blonde tresses were pulled back from her face in a bun.
Pugh’s older beau, whom she has dated for more than a year, went with a casual look in T-shirt, shorts and sneakers.
As well as wearing face masks, both Hollywood stars took the extra precaution of wearing surgical gloves for the day of chores.
On Tuesday, Braff paid tribute to his best friend Nick, two days after the Broadway star died following a long battle with complications from the COVID-19 virus.
Zach dedicated the latest episode of his Fake Doctors, Real Friends podcast with co-host Donald Faison, to Nick, who died aged 41 and leaves behind wife Amanda Kloots and one-year-old son Elvis.
The Garden State actor praised Amanda for her strength and positivity over the last three months, noting that she never saw Nick conscious again after he was admitted to Cedars Sinai hospital in March.
Zach Braff paid tribute to his best friend Nick Cordero on Tuesday after the Broadway actor
The Scrubs alum said it was tough to not be by Amanda’s side to support her because of social distancing protocols.
‘We would literally stand 10 feet away from her and watch our friend sobbing,’ he said.
‘Can you imagine how tragic this is? Your partner’s in the hospital, you can’t even be there? You can’t be by their side, you can’t hug them, you can’t kiss them, you can’t cheer them on. You have to do it over a FaceTime that a generous nurse has arranged.’
Zach revealed the final text message he received from Nick when he was still conscious at the start of his health battle.
‘The last thing Nick texted me before he went unconscious was, I said, “Is there anything I can do?” And he said, “Please look out for Amanda and Elvis,” he recalled.
‘The last thing Nick texted me before he went unconscious was, “Please look out for Amanda and Elvis,” Zach recalled
‘I promised that I’m going to do that for the rest of my life,’ the actor said. ‘And I want to make him proud.’ Zach said of looking after Amanda and one-year-old son Elvis
‘And I promised that I’m going to do that for the rest of my life,’ the actor said. ‘And I want to make him proud.’
The Wish I Was Here director continued, ‘There’s so many people that love Amanda and Elvis and we’re all going to be doing our part to help give this child an extraordinary life. He just started walking and he’s just the cutest kid ever. He’s so cute.’
Zach went on to give more details of Nick’s health decline after he was diagnosed with coronavirus.
‘Just for clarity’s sake, he didn’t have COVID-19 anymore,’ the actor explained.
‘What COVID did to Nick is what it does to a lot of people, it comes in and wreaks havoc on your body. Then it leaves and you don’t have it anymore, but you’re left with what the doctors called ‘lungs that look like Swiss cheese.”‘
The 45-year-old actor praised Amanda for her strength and positivity over the last three months, noting that she never saw Nick conscious again after he was admitted to Cedars Sinai hospital in March
Zach recalled of Nick’s health battle, ‘He just deteriorated, deteriorated, deteriorated, until the point where they put him on the ventilator and then he never came back,’
He added, ‘He just deteriorated, deteriorated, deteriorated, until the point where they put him on the ventilator and then he never came back,
‘He kind of woke up for a little bit and there was some exciting moments where they would say, “Nick if you can hear us look up,” and he would do that, but he wouldn’t do it all the time. It was only occasionally.’
Amanda, 38, documented Nick’s health battle on social media throughout the 90 plus days he was in hospital, giving regular updates on his progress and set backs but always remaining positive.
The actress even starting a daily singalong encouraging well-wishers to belt out Nick’s track Live Your Life and post clips to Instagram.
Long health battle: Amanda revealed at the start of April that Nick had been wrongly diagnosed with pneumonia in March and had been hospitalized because he was struggling to breathe. He then tested positive for COVID-19
During his hospitalization he suffered numerous complications including blood clots which led to his left leg being amputated, septic shock, fungus on his lungs, mini strokes and also had a temporary pacemaker fitted to keep his heartbeat regular
She revealed at the start of April that Nick had been hospitalized after being wrongly diagnosed with pneumonia in March. He was struggling to breathe so they admitted him to Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. Shortly after he tested positive for COVID-19.
He was immediately sedated and never properly regained consciousness.
During his hospitalization he suffered numerous complications including blood clots which led to his left leg being amputated, septic shock, fungus on his lungs, mini strokes and also had a temporary pacemaker fitted to keep his heartbeat regular.
By the end of his life, Zach said ‘his blood pressure wasn’t strong enough,’ meaning that he would have had to lose his fingers and toes ‘had he lived.’
The actor said that there were some moments of hope, but his friend ‘never came back’ fully.
Heartbreaking: Zach said there were some moments of hope, but his friend ‘never came back’ fully