Suffolk County Correction Officer Timothy Heaton, who nearly died from long COVID, gets emotional retirement sendoff
YAPHANK, N.Y. -- He was given the last rites and death seemed imminent, but the spirit, prayers and love of his family and colleagues helped a correction officer beat COVID-19.
CBS2 was in Yaphank on Thursday when Officer Timothy Heaton, a new grandfather, officially retired and was honored for the job he cherished.
It was a surprise sendoff for the respected and retiring correction officer from Suffolk County. Tears flowed all around for Heaton.
"Amazing how things change in a year," Heaton said.
Six months of last year Heaton was hospitalized in a life-and-death battle with long COVID. He spent six weeks in a coma.
"I truly do believe it's a miracle because doctors said there was nothing else that could be done," daughter Julia Heaton-Jensen said.
CBS2 was with his emotional family, when Stony Brook and St. Charles medical teams announced Heaton had somehow conquered COVID.
"I was given last rites," Heaton said back on March 1, 2022.
"We were told multiple times to come in to say our goodbyes," a family member said.
His daughter was about to give birth, while her father was thought to be dying in the same hospital.
"My dad was in the medical ICU while I was in labor and delivery," Heaton-Jensen said. "I cried. It was out of our control at that point."
"Amazing how when you put your mind to something you can recover, and I prayed. Mainly prayer, too, saved my life," Heaton said.
Wife Connie Heaton said it was something unimaginable just months ago.
"I just told doctors, 'I'm not signing a DNR," she said, "'And I'm not giving up. We still believe he can pull through,' and he did."
Timothy Heaton will be joining his family on a cruise for the first time, to Mexico, but on Thursday he was formally honored for 30 years of service with his retirement shield by Suffolk Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr.
"Our 20- and 30-year-old officers that may at some point go through some adversity in life can always look to Timothy Heaton as a source of inspiration," Toulon said.
"This badge is nice, but what really mattered is that they stood with me during the dark times, and it means so much, I can never put into words," Timothy Heaton said.
He said his motto: "Never give up -- where there's hope, there is life," helped pull him through.
