Two South Jersey patients, once strangers, share special kind of survival bonds filled with gratitude
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) – There was a special kind of reunion Tuesday at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden. From the brink of death to a heart filled with gratitude, the thanks Tuesday were for the life-saving medical team and for a fellow patient.
"I really appreciate everything you did for us," Erik Leach said. "It was really amazing."
Leach is back to thank the medical team that saved his life
"These guys really put their hearts and souls into getting me better," Leach said.
The 44-year-old from Hainesport spent two and a half months hospitalized after a massive heart attack and several life-threatening complications.
"This is great. As a physician, I always want to see my patient to recover, and come back, with different face, different spirit. I'm very happy," Dr. Yang said.
During his darkest days in the hospital, there was one special visitor -- former patient Frank Talarico.
"It reminded me of me when I was here before he was just laying in bed," Talarico said. "He wasn't moving."
Talarico spent 49 days at Virtua with a serious case of COVID-19. It was in March when he came to thank the team that he met Leach.
"He kept asking me if I thought that he would get better and I said, 'look at me,'" Talarico said. "It does mean a lot that I was able to get, you know, to help him with his recovery."
Talarico, a retired police sergeant, says his life is finally back to normal thanks to these folks.
"The true angels and heroes here, are the people that work here. They're just amazing," Talarico said.
Now, these two former patients, once strangers, share a special kind of survival bond filled with gratitude.
"It's a lot emotionally," Leach said. "These guys really mean a lot to me. There's, I mean for the rest of my life, I'm still going forward because of them. So I owe them."
The medical team says Leach's fiancé and sisters helped keep his spirits lifted through the ordeal. They say that's a critically important part of his recovery.