Retired NYPD officer on how doctors and nurses saved his life twice while battling COVID-19
Retired officer Anthony Greco and his wife Liz Greco recount his 61-day stay in the hospital.
After two months battling coronavirus in New York hospitals, retired New York Police officer Anthony "Tony" Greco thanked the doctors and nurses who took care of him.
In a Tuesday interview on "Fox & Friends First," Greco and his wife, Liz, told host Jillian Mele that it was an "emotional" experience for them.
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Greco said that the hardest part was not being able to see his wife and family after he woke up.
"I had the easy part. I was sleeping for most of it. It was after I woke up where it got really difficult," he said.
April 17, 2020: A patient is wheeled out of the Cobble Hill Health Center by emergency medical workers in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The facility has listed dozens of deaths linked to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In New York state, the nation’s leader in nursing home deaths, the Greater New York Hospital Association lobbying group wrote the first draft of an emergency declaration making it the only state with protection from both civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution arising from the pandemic, with the order signed by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
"It was torture not being able to go in there and help him. You know, and we did everything we could to just be on the phone with him as much as we could. Once we started FaceTimeing, that's all we did. As long as they let me on there, we just did," Liz added. "Otherwise, it was complete mental torture."
Mt. Sinai South Nassau Dr. Frank Coletta explained Greco had presented with respiratory failure.
"His oxygen levels were so low, we didn't think he was going to make it. And, in fact, we transferred him to our main campus at Mt. Sinai in Manhattan to get a special therapy in case he needed it," Coletta said. "Luckily, he never did but came back to us and then was off the ventilator. Then [he] got sick again with a terrible infection around his right lung -- which required surgery -- and that put him back on the ventilator again with an ultimate 60 days plus in the hospital."
While Greco still has some residual issues -- including pinched nerves, mobility issues in his left arm and right hand, and chest pains -- his story is one of success for the Mt. Sinai team.
He reports that doctors are happy with his progress thus far and that coming home was "very emotional."
"It's a true miracle. We're so blessed and grateful and we thank God for every day," Liz said.
"I can't thank [Coletta] enough for everything he did and everything all the other doctors and nurses did at these hospitals. They kept me alive," Greco concluded. "I don't know what would have happened had it not been for them. I wouldn't be here."
As New York -- once the pandemic's epicenter -- enters Phase IV of its reopening plan, the state is seeing the lowest number of hospitalizations for the virus since March 18.
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According to the Empire State's Department of Health, there were 722 New Yorkers in hospitals for coronavirus as of Saturday, down from a peak of 18,825 on April 12, and 13 deaths. The New York Times reports over 412,000 total confirmed cases in New York as well as now over 32,000 deaths.
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