‘Nothing less than a miracle’: Irving firefighter returns after 500-day fight against COVID-19

EMT firefighter Joseph Solecki returned to the front lines with Irving Fire Department after the battle of his life.

Within 500 days Solecki COVID-19 and it was a battle that almost cost him everything.

“Simply amazing, it’s nothing short of a miracle, really,” said Capt. Jeff Judd of the IFD.

Judd said he and several other firefighters contracted COVID-19 shortly after treating a patient with the virus in July 2021. Several people became very ill, but no one suffered as quickly and as badly as Soletsky.

“It was very shocking to see how quickly it deteriorated. To be the healthy guy he was in the hospital in a coma,” said IFD driver Richard Estes, who is also the secretary of the local union.

Fire “brothers” of Solecki in IrvingBryan College Station, Houston and Brazos County rallied around his family.

Solecki said his condition worsened before treatment helped him improve. At some point, doctors recommended that he reconsider his career for life.

“They were not sure that I would be able to breathe again,” he said.

Solecki said he is still working on some neurological issues in his hand, has lost some strength and is experiencing some headaches, but has been allowed to return to work full-time. As of Wednesday, Solecki has completed three shifts and training.

He expressed his gratitude to the medical team that cared for him, his family, and fire departments and firefighters across the state who came to the rescue.

He is especially grateful to have returned to the life of service he had always dreamed of.

“I was the kid who every Halloween was a firefighter,” he said. “It was what I grew up in, was born into, and I could not imagine that I was no longer here.”

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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