After Covid-19 battle, Rockville Centre man receives a warm welcome home

After more than two and half months in the hospital, Bob Picchioni returned to his Rockville Centre home and is recovering from his battle with Covid-19. Friends, family members and neighbors gave him a warm welcome home on May 30, overcome with joy to see a man who, at one point in early April, many thought they would have to say goodbye to.

“The support and prayers that I received from friends, family and neighbors was overwhelming,” Picchioni said, “and it was so emotional seeing everyone as we drove down Harvard and turned onto Yale. It was the first time I had felt fresh air in 66 days, and it was the most indescribably beautiful day, surrounded by some truly incredible people.”

On March 15, Picchioni, 58, came down with mild symptoms of the coronavirus, including a low-grade fever. After 10 days, he began experiencing shortness of breath and went to an urgent care facility. From there, he was taken to Winthrop, and the next day, on March 27, he was intubated in the pediatric intensive care unit – the first Covid-19 patient in the unit. At that time, as hospitals began seeing more patients with the virus, they would create “pop-up” ICUs wherever they had space for them, according to Picchioni. Picchioni was under the care of doctors and nurses who were used to caring for children, not adults, though his daughter, Melanie Picchioni, said the care her father received was “incredible.”

He spent a total of six weeks in intensive care – four weeks in the PICU, followed by two weeks in another ICU unit at Winthrop, requiring a ventilator the entire time before the doctors installed a tracheotomy. He was discharged from Winthrop in mid-May and transferred to Mercy Rehab, where he spent two weeks before returning home on May 30.

For six weeks, Melanie said, his condition would change daily, often even going up and down over the course of a day. The worst spiral, she said, came on April 11, Holy Saturday – the day before Easter.

“We got a call that he was crashing and were told to prepare to say goodbye,” she said. “They set up a FaceTime, and we were screaming at everyone to not give up on him, screaming at him to not give up.” She said she, her mother Jeannie and her two brothers, Rob and Luke, texted everyone they knew, asking for prayers. The family stayed up all night praying.

The prayers were answered. At 4 a.m. on Easter Sunday, the doctors called with good news: his oxygen levels were up. Still, they cautioned that his blood pressure was still too low. Five hours later, the call came that his blood pressure was back up. While he had improved, the doctors warned there could still be organ damage due to the lack of oxygen for 12 hours.

Over the next few weeks, Bob gradually improved, and, while his muscles are weak from being bedridden for so long, he has no organ damage. Melanie said they learned he had bacterial pneumonia, which was treated with antibiotics. That still does not explain how he improved from such a dire situation. Family and friends attribute it to the power of prayer.

“It’s like a miracle and is such an example of hope during this dark time,” family friend and neighbor Jennifer Minnigan said. “In a hopeless situation like this, people who may not even have faith turned to prayer and it really has forced people to rally together.”

Bob has owned Complete Recovery Restoration for 26 years, a company that handles fire and water damage. He named the company after his oldest son, Rob, made a full recovery from a lung disease that doctors had said he might not survive. Upon Bob’s homecoming, his best friend made T-shirts that said “Complete Recovery 2.0” in reference to this being the second “miraculous” recovery in the family’s life.

For Bob’s homecoming, friends, family and neighbors lined up on Harvard, DeMott and Yale Place to welcome him home. According to Melanie, the support of the town and their St. Agnes parish community helped them get through the entire ordeal.

“We have an amazing community,” Melanie said. “People in this town really came together for us.”

“It was electrifying to see everyone on the block,” Minnigan said. “I believe the good will bind us together.”