Skaneateles, NY — Scott DeWolf can’t walk up hills. The corrections officer has had to stop working.
But he knows he’s luckier than many, and he and his wife, Bethany, say they never forget that as they go about their daily lives.
In November 2020, the Skaneateles man contracted a life-threatening case of Covid-19. He spent five months in the hospital as the disease destroyed both of his lungs. At one point, his heart stopped and doctors were able to revive him.
Bethany was told to prepare for the worst. There was nothing more that could be done to help her husband, then 52, and the father of their two children. She refused to give up, and was able to get Scott on a lung transplant list for patients with Covid.
The procedure was successful, although Scott was hospitalized from November 2020 until June 2021.
Today, as a new year dawns, the DeWolfs say they are incredibly grateful for Scott’s second chance.
“Everything is that much sweeter,” Scott said from his Skaneateles home.
The first double-lung transplant in a Covid case was in June 2020. As of November 2023, 535 patients with Covid have had transplants, according to the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
A former corrections officer at Auburn prison, Scott can no longer work. Instead, he continues to focus on his recovery. He has to see his doctor every three months and the plethora of medication he takes requires blood tests every few weeks to check his liver and kidney function.
He has written twice to the family of his donor, thanking them for the gift of life. He never heard back, which he said he’s been told often happens.
“They are heroes,” he said of the donor’s family.
Scott says today he’d like to get involved in helping to promote organ donation, and is willing to talk about how it’s given him a second chance.
Although his recovery was slow and often grueling, Scott said he made lifelong friendships with other transplant recipients in Florida, where the surgery was performed.
He and another recipient, a 34-year-old man from Wyoming, bonded over fishing and encouraged each other during rehab. Last fall, Scott went to visit him at his Wyoming ranch, and the two spent a week fly-fishing and counting their blessings. Scott also keeps in touch with a handful of other transplant patients.
“It’s a brotherhood,’' he said.
Scott walks three or four miles every day, but has trouble with inclines or can’t climb hills. That’s because he suffered some paralysis to his diaphragm as part of the surgery.
“I can’t overexert myself or I run out of breath,’' he said.
With Bethany teaching full-time, Scott often makes dinner for the family. He attended every one of his daughter’s varsity soccer games and reveled in taking photos at his son’s eighth-grade dance and daughter’s junior prom.
He says he’s still afraid of Covid. He contracted it again after his surgery but recovered quickly.
While he doesn’t have the stamina he had prior to his transplant, Scott said he feels blessed to wake up every morning.
“I’m not the man I used to be,” he said. “But I’m happy to be here.”
Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com