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83-year-old going home after spending 74 days at a Florida hospital because of coronavirus, family says

Updated  June 18, 2020 5:29am EDT
FOX 35 Orlando

Elderly man survives coronavirus after 74 days in Florida hospital

His daughter said she asked doctors to use a treatment she saw on FOX 35 Orlando.

MIAMI - A daughter is welcoming her dad, who was in the hospital with coronavirus, back home just before Father's Day after asking doctors for a specific treatment she saw on FOX 35 Orlando.

83-year-old Lorenzo is going home after spending 74 days in a Miami hospital. Suffering from COVID-19, he was put on a ventilator and into a medically-induced coma on April 2nd. Doctors said his chances for survival were slim.

His daughter then saw a FOX 35 story about Kevin Rathel, who woke up from a medically induced coma days after receiving plasma from a coronavirus survivor. 

Coronavirus patient wakes from coma

Plasma from one man who recently recovered from coronavirus was injected into a comatose man infected with COVID-19. Less than a week later, that man has come out of his coma and is responsive.

Esther Silva, who is Lorenzo's daughter, said that it only took her dad one day to wake up and move his hands after receiving plasma, explaining that "it is beyond what we had in mind and we are super excited after 74 days to take Dad home with Father's Day being on Sunday."

MORE NEWS: Florida sees second-highest daily increase with more than 2,600 new cases

Lorenzo said that he is happy to be alive and heading home.

"This is the biggest thing I have dealt with in my life," he told FOX 35 Orlando. "I'm very happy to be with my family and to finally see my grandkids. Let's see where life takes me from this moment on."

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He also advises others to "use your masks. It's the least we can do when we are around other people."

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