COVID-19 survivor gets welcome home parade: 'They told me he was not going to make it'

COLLINGDALE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A parade of fire trucks and cars passed through Marshall Avenue in Collingdale, Delaware County, to welcome home COVID-19 survivor Kevin Thomas.

There were the sounds of sirens and people honking their horns as many waved to show support.

Thomas, a maintenance engineer, caught a bad case of COVID-19 back in mid-April.

"I was two days away from getting vaccinated, I had an appointment set, I was two days away," said Thomas.

Thomas was on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma for two months. Doctors had told his wife to prepare for the worst, but she refused to give up.

"I'm not giving up on him. You don't know how strong my husband is. He's the strongest man I know," said his wife, Elsie Thomas. "They told me he was not going to make it. If he came out, he'd be a vegetable. He doesn't look like a vegetable to me."

"If it wasn't for this woman right here, I wouldn't be here," Thomas added,

His family says they learned life lessons about battling COVID and sticking together.

"That's the one thing you cannot do with COVID. You cannot give up," said his daughter Kelsie Thomas.

Amanda DiMartino, his niece, said, "This is a true testament to his strength and my aunt advocating for him all the way."

Instead of a funeral, there were hugs and kisses to go around, and yesterday was Kevin Thomas's 56th birthday.

People sang happy birthday and broke out in applause and cheers.