'All of you have been a blessing': COVID survivor thanks hospital staff who saved his life
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) -- After six-month long battle, a COVID survivor is finally going home -- just in time for Thanksgiving.
It's been a long journey for James Colon, who never thought he would make this walk.
"All of you have been a blessing," Colon said.
He thanked the Mount Sinai staff who took care of him over the 195 days he spent in the hospital.
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Now, this survivor of COVID is finally going home.
"I'm so grateful to be here with my family," Colon said.
He fought COVID for six months and was in bad shape -- even spent part of it in a coma.
"My kidneys failed, liver was failing, my heart was swollen, my lungs due to the corona gave way to pneumonia," Colon said.
His beloved niece Veronica Britez-Ward told Eyewitness News the agonizing details where she thought her uncle wouldn't make it.
"We soon might have to make a decision to let him go peacefully and for how long were we going to continue the journey," Britez-Ward said.
Colon was put on a ventilator and then spent months on a roller coaster ride of ups and down. But his family stuck by his side, and so did his rehabilitation team.
"He was always a very motivated person, he wanted to do more all the time," said Dr. Burgos of Mount Sinai Morningside.
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That determination lead to the moment he finally went home, with a smiling, celebrating victory over the biggest fight of his life.
"I'm going to be very thankful this Thanksgiving," Colon said.
