A special day for these fathers
HEARTWARMING TALES FROM COVID SURVIVORS
Their steely determination got them through COVID-19 — but on Father’s Day, the families of these recovered dads will celebrate their hearts of gold.
Men comprised 10,000-plus of the more than 17,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths in the five boroughs, according to data from the city’s Department of Health.
These men fought the battle of their lives to be home for a Father’s Day they’ll never forget.
GILBERTO FLORES, 53, UPS WORKER
Gilberto Flores had more work than ever when the city shut down in March. With everyone at home, his job delivering packages for UPS got busier. He felt a fever coming on during a Friday shift in mid-March, his symptoms worsened and he considered going to the hospital.
“My back was killing me. I felt like I had fire in my lungs. But they said if you’re breathing OK just stay home,” the Brooklyn man recalled. Coronavirus quickly spread through his family. His three brothers got sick, as did his wife. One of his siblings died and so did his mother-in-law. “Life goes on and hopefully this virus goes away and never comes back. I have to be strong for my kids, my family and my wife,” Flores said.
DAVID HIRSCH, 47, ORAL SURGEON
As an oral surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital, David Hirsch was ready and willing to stand firm on the coronavirus front line.
But he never got a chance. Instead, the disease left him quarantined from his wife and three daughters for 18 days in their Suffern, Rockland County, home.
“It takes such an emotional toll on top of the physical toll. After about seven weeks I think my lungs started to slowly recover,” he said. “I was terrified that if I got dropped at the hospital I might never see my wife and kids again.”
Now in recovery, he takes walks with one of his daughters every day.
“I really owe my family a huge debt of gratitude because they hung in there with me,” he said. “I emotionally needed them. I was vulnerable and it’s hard to talk about now but obviously they saved my life. If I was by myself I don’t think I could have done it.”
GIL CALLAWAY, 32, NYC CORRECTION OFFICER
Gil Callaway looked through the glass door at his 6-year-old son Cameron, whom he hadn’t seen for over a month.
“Daddy, can’t you come in?” the boy asked.
“No baby, daddy has to stay away for a while,” Callaway, of Selden, LI., said through his mask.
Callaway came down with a fever at the end of March. When he got a positive coronavirus test result he knew what he had to do.
“When I left, I cried,” Callaway said. “Not seeing my son…it was just hard. Everything I do, I do for him.”
“[When I got to see him again], he ran up to me and gave me a big hug,” he said. “[He said], ‘Daddy can we do this? Can we do that?’ I said es — ything make im ppy.”
ROBERT KELLEY, 57, HEAD OF STATIONS FOR THE TRANSIT WORKERS UNION
All Robert Kelley thought about in March was making sure city transit workers had proper gear to protect them from the coronavirus.
He worked 20-hour days, seven days a week, traveled to subway stations and interacted with MTA workers to make sure they were safe. By the end of the month, he was sick with COVID-19.
Though home in the Bronx now, Kelley fought for his life during three hospitalizations in March and April.
“The thought of not seeing my grandkids grow up. That was my greatest concern of all,” Kelley said. “I’m a family man. My kids mean the world to me.”
“I just want to make sure I keep them safe and we’ll all celebrate real soon together. Thank God for these new phones. It’s good to see them but boy I can’t wait to hold them,” he said.
HUGO SOSA, 53, FDNY EMS CAPTAIN
Hugo Sosa is in the business of saving lives, but for more than a month, it was his life hanging in the balance.
He spent 40 days in a medically induced coma and another month in a rehabilitation facility relearning basic tasks.
On Friday — his twins’ 14th birthday — he was finally sent home.
“It’s a dream come true to spend their birthday with them on the day I got released from rehab. And then to spend Father’s Day with them. I’m in a wonderful place right now,” Sosa said.
A former member of the FDNY football team, coronavirus ravaged Sosa’s burly frame, leaving him a shadow of his former self.
His kids tested positive, and his wi e, too. His mother-in-law died of the virus.
“It pulls me apart emotionally to know that I wasn’t there for my family,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the strength and love of my family, my wife … they pulled me through with love.”