Irving firefighter Joe Solecki back on duty after beating COVID-19
IRVING (CBSDFW.COM) - Irving firefighter Joe Solecki is back on the job after COVID-19 derailed his life for a year and a half.
"His return to full duty is a testament to his hard work, dedication and desire to return to his mission in life," the fire department shared.
Solecki was hospitalized in August of 2021 with COVID-19 and quickly deteriorated. He was even put into a medically induced coma.
"Through my hospitalization I lost 100 to a little over 100 pounds. I went from 275-278 to about 170-180 pounds," Solecki described. "My left side was numb, my feet were numb, and my legs were numb."
Solecki didn't fully realize how bad things were until he went to rehab.
"They were teaching me how to walk again and I actually saw myself in the mirror and it was heartbreaking... it's enough to make somebody want to give up."
But he never did.
"The fact that there was a lot of doctors and things telling me that I would never do this again... I just couldn't live with that," he said.
After his release from the hospital, he was relentless in rehab until gaining back his strength.
Fellow Station 3 firefighters are "thrilled and blessed to have him come back." Especially after doctors said it wasn't possible.
"It was hard and there were a lot of prayers," said Irving Fire Department Station 3 Captain, Jeff Judd. "He's always been a big part of this crew so to have him back its just awesome."
Although doctors cleared Solecki for full duty, he said he still has some lingering symptoms he's working on.
"To put it plainly maybe I'm a shadow of the man I was but I'm still pretty tough."
And now he's ready to fight some more, but for his community again.