American Donnell Hunter, who contracted the coronavirus in September 2020, has been discharged home after nearly 550 days in hospital.
An escort of squad cars took Hunter Friday from Kindred Hospital in Albuquerque to his family in Roswell, New Mexico, where he also met his one-year-old grandson for the first time.
Ashley Hunter told KOB4 that her husband was hospitalized almost 18 months ago when he felt too weak to get out of the car.
During an examination, the doctors diagnosed an infection with Sars-CoV-2 and put the father of seven children on a ventilator.
"The doctors kept calling and telling me to prepare for the worst," Hunter's wife recalled.
Hunter lost control of his arms and legs.
"I went to rehab to learn how to swallow and had speech therapy," said Donnell Hunter, who has spent the past year and a half at nine medical facilities.
At the beginning of January he started running.
It remains to be seen whether he will fully recover.
"We'll take it as it comes," Hunter said.