#FDNY captain released from hospital after near-deadly battle with coronavirus

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FDNY Capt. Hugo Sosa walks out of the Burke Rehabilitation Center in White Plains today.
William Farrington

An FDNY captain was in tears Friday as he headed home after beating a COVID-19 infection that nearly cost him his life.

Capt. Hugo Sosa, a 29-year veteran with the department, spent 44 days in the hospital — where he survived being intubated and suffering a collapsed lung and two strokes, CBS2 reported.

He then spent a month at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, undergoing the physical therapy that taught him to walk again.

“It means everything to us — myself, my family, my friends,” an emotional Sosa told CBS2 as he left Burke, wearing an FDNY football jersey.

“It’s a long road, but we’re going to make it,” he added.

After contracting the virus in late March, Sosa spent weeks in White Plains Hospital before he was discharged on May 15 and transported to the nearby rehabilitation center, where he spent another month relearning how to walk and talk, CBS2 reported.

Sosa during his FDNY career has served as a first responder and as a member of its Bureau of Training, where he worked providing free CPR training to New Yorkers.

Most recently he worked on the Emergency Medical Dispatch team, where he deployed resources to 911 callers.

“Captain Hugo Sosa is a dedicated, beloved, and respected member of the Department who has served the FDNY in so many ways,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement back in May when Hugo was discharged from White Plains.

Sosa left the rehabilitation center on the same day his twin children celebrated their 14th birthdays.

As Sosa embraced his children, his coworkers, family and friends cheered his return home.

“He’s not fully recovered, but he’s on his way because of the staff here at Burke, who are phenomenal and dedicated in what they do,” Sosa’s wife, Blanca Delgado-Sosa told the station.