HUDSON, Fla. -- The medical team at Bayonet Point Regional Medical Center lined the hall and applauded as Robert Marrero, 58, was wheeled out of the hospital after 36 days of battling COVID-19. 

Marrero was greeted by a large group of family and friends who had gathered with signs and played gospel music to celebrate his recovery.

"It was such an overwhelming feeling just to see my dad roll out of that hospital. Just talking about it gives me goosebumps. I'm just so happy. We're just so happy to have him home," said his daughter, Jenny Marrero.

Jenny said her father was hospitalized with COVID-19 on April 2 and found out two days later that he'd tested positive. 

"Everything started going downhill," she said. "His oxygen levels were dropping, he was requiring more oxygen."

Marrero has conditions that the CDC said put people at higher risk for severe illness with COVID-19. He has asthma, he's a prostate cancer survivor, and he has lingering health effects from his work as a first responder during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"Ever since 9/11, my lungs have been compromised, meaning that a simple cold that you might get, might just knock you out in your house two or three days. I get a simple cold, I end up in PCU and ICU because my lungs aren't that up to status," Marrero said.

Jenny said her father was intubated and put into a medically-induced coma for 19 days. For much of that time, no one was allowed to visit.

"The pain that my family and I had to endure these past 36 days is unimaginable. I can't even explain the nights that I would hear my mom crying herself to sleep. Not knowing the unknown is what killed us most," she said. "We were really sad and so heartbroken, but we tried to stay positive and we prayed so much."

Eventually, Jenny was allowed to visit. A Bayonet Point spokesperson said administrators can approve exceptions to the temporary visitor restriction policy in certain circumstances, including end of life situations. 

"He was just laying on a bed. He wouldn't look at me. He wouldn't move. It was the hardest thing I've ever experienced in my life," said Jenny. "I couldn't go inside the room. I couldn't touch him. I had to stand outside of a glass window and basically just look at my dad laying in a bed, so helpless."

Then, on April 25, Jenny said the call came that her family feared.

"My dad's respiratory rate was up in the 50's. He was requiring more oxygen, and they basically told us that they didn't know if he was going to make it," she said.

The family rushed to the hospital.

"I feel like we witnessed a miracle because as soon as the nurses told my dad — mind you, we couldn't go in the room yet —they told my dad, 'Your family is out here,' his vitals became stable," Jenny said.

Now, after more than a month, he's home.

"I'm feeling a little better, being able to speak a little better, being able to keep liquids down a little better," Marrero said a day after being released. "I can't walk. I've lost over 30 lbs. So, I've just got to start taking baby steps. A journey of 1,000 miles starts with one step."

Both Marrero and his daughter praised the work of the medical team that saved his life.

"The nurses and doctors at Bayonet Point, oh, my goodness -- amazing, amazing staff," said Jenny.

"They took such well care of me, such love and caring beyond words," said Marrero.

He went on to urge those who hear his story to take the steps necessary to avoid catching the virus, like carrying disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer.

"I mean, you can't walk around with a hazmat suit all day long, so you just take it as it comes," he said. "The doctors say I'm supposed to be like a miracle of being intubated so long and being in ICU so long. So, just live life. Enjoy life to the fullest. If you want that Gucci bag, girl, go and get it."

"He's a fighter. That's all I can say," said Jenny. "He won this. COVID-19 was not going to take my dad."