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Video: First responders celebrate homecoming of fire captain who survived COVID-19

Warners-Memphis Volunteer Fire Capt. Dan Hogan is recovering after 26 days in the hospital and was greeted with cheers and sirens upon arriving home

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Elizabeth Doran
Syracuse Media Group, N.Y.

WARNERS, N.Y. — On April 10, Warners-Memphis volunteer fire captain Dan Hogan was rushed by ambulance to Crouse Hospital, after he became sick with COVID-19.

The 42-year-old firefighter and Centro bus mechanic was put on a ventilator Easter Sunday, and his fiancee Lachell Duval worried he’d never come home.

Tuesday afternoon, Hogan came home after 26 days in the hospital.

As he left the hospital, nurses and other hospital staff clapped and cheered for him. Hogan was wheeled outside to a car, where he was greeted by Duval, her son and a friend.

It’s been nearly a month since the couple saw each other.

“I was so happy to see him,’' Duval said. “I was just so worried.”

At the Warners Road exit off Route 695, his department’s fire chief met them, escorting them with lights the rest of the way to their home in Warners

When they arrived home, fire trucks from Camillus, Warners-Memphis, Howlett Hill and Elbridge lined the street, horns honking and sirens blowing. All the firefighters came out of the trucks, standing at least six feet apart, cheering and clapping as Hogan used a walker to make his way to the front door.

“We both started crying,’' Duval said. “It was overwhelming, and so nice.”

https://www.facebook.com/OnondagaCountyVFA/videos/vb.675669606185521/745562109569380/?type=2&theater

After everyone left, the couple enjoyed some time together, had dinner and watched “Dirty Dancing” before Hogan went to bed.

Hogan said in an interview Wednesday with The Post Standard that he’s tired, but feels healthy.

He will have nurses check on him at home, and undergo physical therapy to regain his strength. He has a blood clot in his lung, which is being treated with blood thinners, Duval said.

“It’s so awesome to be home,’' he said. “I feel great, just from being out of the hospital. The nurses and doctors were all wonderful, but I love being home.”

Hogan said he remembers being sick and going to the hospital, but the rest is a blur. He doesn’t remember being on a ventilator for five days.

Once he started to improve, his memory sharpened. It was a long road — with setbacks such as when he had to go back on high-flow oxygen — and he’ll need time to feel like he did before he got sick.

“I had to learn how to swallow and how to eat again,’' he said. “I just really wanted to get home.”

The welcome from firefighters and all the support means so much, Hogan said.

“It’s so nice to see family and friends and everyone at the fire department,’' he said. “I guess I have a lot of friends!”

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©2020 Syracuse Media Group, N.Y.

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