Frankfort father of 5 returns home after months-long COVID-19 battle to see son's last football game

FRANKFORT, Ill. (WLS) -- A southwest suburban Frankfort father who was placed in a medically-induced coma while battling COVID-19 was released Friday from the rehab facility where he spent months recovering.

Not only is he back home, George Fushi made it out just in time to watch his son play in Lincoln Way East's final football game of the season.

It's a homecoming his doctors predicted he might never have. When Fushi first went into the hospital to be treated for COVID-19, doctors sedated him, putting him into a coma for 30 days that they worried he might never recover from. But here he is.

"It was non-stop nightmares you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy," Fushi said. "It was just 24/7, all nightmares."

It's been more than three months since Fushi has seen most of his family. Once he went into rehab, his goal was to be out in time to attend his oldest son's wedding next month. But he pushed even harder to get to see his youngest son's final football game of the season. His son Joe, No. 98, is captain of his team.

George and his wife Tracy have five kids and have been married 27 years. They also run their own business together.

"It's been crazy, you know, with a lot of kids involved. Not knowing was tough. Doctors kept telling us the worst case scenario," Tracy Fushi said.

George said it was overwhelming leaving the Shirley Ryan Ability Center at Silver Cross Hospital Friday morning. Without them, he said he wouldn't be here. He now has a new outlook on life.

"They saved my life. COVID was gonna kill me. If anything else went wrong, I wouldn't be sitting here today. I would have left my five kids," he said.

Fushi said his doctors told him he would likely be on a ventilator for the rest of his life, but he beat the odds. He's expected to make a full recovery, though he still has a long way to go.

The Fushi family has set up a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses as he continues to recover.