DENVER — Rev. Terrance Hughes, a pastor who's been a force in his community for years, is finally home after a long batter with COVID-19.
Hughes was released from the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center early this month after spending nearly seven weeks on a ventilator. He then spent two weeks continuing his recovery in rehab.
There was a homecoming parade for "Pastor Big T" on Wednesday afternoon – that's what he's called by everyone at the community at New Covenant Christian Church in Five Points.
"I'm a little bit speechless, Hughes said after the parade. "The love you guys have poured out, I can't thank ya'll enough for taking care of my wife. It's been a journey."
Hughes was the VA Hospital's first COVID-19 patient, he spent 60 total days in the hospital with the novel coronavirus.
Doctors called the day he was released "extraordinary" because his outlook was not looking good at first, but he recovered stronger than doctors thought possible.
"It’s a sad state right now, we're facing something we've never seen in my lifetime here," Hughes said. "We've been lacking leadership on a lot of levels. We lacked leadership from the presidency, and at the local area, too. It's been a community trying to pull things together without direction. ... Were not all middle-class citizens. We can still beat this and see the beauty coming out of this, too. This is tearing down walls…it's coming upon us to find ways to reach out to people. Motivate our political people to do what they need to do to stop this."
His wife also recovered from COVID-19.
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