Anaheim Firefighter Returns Home After Month-Long Battle With Coronavirus, 1 Firefighter Remains In ICU
ANAHEIM (CBSLA) -- An Anaheim firefighter was finally released from the hospital on Saturday after a long battle with coronavirus.
Capt. Joseph Aldecoa was one of seven Anaheim firefighters who tested positive and among two who had to be taken to the intensive care unit for complications.
"Today is just a day of pure joy," said Capt. Rob Lester, President of the Anaheim Firefighters Association.
Aldecoa, a 19-year veteran firefighter, battled with coronavirus for a month, and for one week, he stayed in the ICU.
"That's one of the mysteries of this disease is when it hits you, it seems to hit you particularly hard for sometimes no reason. They can find and that recovery is tough," said Anaheim Fire Department spokesperson Shane Carringer.
Aldecoa's family said he's been encouraging them to stay safe and take precautions so they don't have to fight for their life like he has had to over the last few weeks.
"He keeps saying it over and over again to take it seriously. He took it seriously and took he precautions and still got it so... you just don't know how it would affect you," said his Aldecoa's niece Vanessa.
Capt. David Baker is the only remaining Anaheim firefighter who is hospitalized, and he is currently in the ICU. At the beginning of his career, Baker was featured in a 1993 poster of Mickey Mouse looking up at a firefighter.
Orange County has reported 540 new coronavirus cases as of Saturday and no new deaths. A total of 12,462 cases and 323 deaths have been recorded in O.C.