East Point cop gets hero’s welcome after surviving coronavirus
Parade of police vehicles salutes 13-year veteran who spent weeks in ICU, rehabilitation
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A veteran East Point police commander – hospitalized for weeks battling coronavirus – received an emotional welcome home on Friday as dozens of officers paraded by his house in police vehicles with emergency lights on and sirens blaring.
The celebration took place outside the Locust Grove home of Lt. Walter Watts (top photo right), who has been sidelined with a COVID-19 infection since March 19. He spent four weeks on a ventilator in intensive care and another four weeks in a rehabilitation facility. Watts’ arrival home on Friday marked the first time he’s been there in more than 10 weeks.
“It’s been a two-and-a-half-month process for him. He fought through it and he’s home,” said Lakeisha Watts, his wife and an East Point police detective.
The parade of police vehicles rolled through Watts’ neighborhood about noon on Friday. Officers delivered balloons and hugs to Watts, a 13-year veteran of the police department who was wearing a face mask and standing in his driveway with the help of a walker. The celebration included officers from East Point as well as agencies around metro Atlanta.
City officials – including Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham, City Manager Fred Gardiner and Chief Tommy Gardner – were also on hand.
About a half-dozen first responders in East Point have been infected with COVID-19. Watts’ case was by far the most serious, so being able to celebrate his homecoming was an emotional moment for him and his colleagues, Gardner said.
“It means everything to us. It means everything to our city. It means everything to the family and it means everything to our police department,” Gardner said. “We could not do the job without the men and women like Walter Watts. He’s a pillar of our department.”
‘We needed a good victory’
Gardner called Watts’ arrival home a big victory.
“It is just amazing to see his recovery. The spirit of what we do, especially in light of what's going on in our country right now, we needed a good victory. This is a victory not only for Walter Watts, it’s a victory for our community and it’s a victory for our police department,” Gardner said.
Ingraham called Watts “a fighter.”
“There are a lot of people who've been impacted by coronavirus and a lot of lives that have been lost. But there are also people who have been fighting through and blessed to be able to make it,” Ingraham said.
“This means that we're survivors. I continue to say we will get through this together and I think now we know that we're strong and fight and we have people who really have gotten through this with the support of our department,” the mayor added.
Gardiner, the city manager, said Watts’ COVID-19 infection is “important for folks to realize that this is real.”
“From when he first went into the hospital, it was tough to believe that Watts was the person that was down. He’s one of the biggest guys we’ve got on the force. It’s been touch and go,” Gardiner said. “We’re glad to have him back home.”
Lakeisha Watts said the support from fellow officers, the city and healthcare providers at Piedmont Henry Hospital and Emory Rehabilitation Hospital was critical to her husband’s recovery.
“They really stood by us and like today it just showed the department coming together and family and friends and even one of the nurses from Piedmont Henry came out to support. It’s just meant so much to his healing process to know that he just had so many people behind him supporting him,” Watts said.
Read more coverage of how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting East Point.