ORANGE — Birthday parades led by police have become commonplace as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but what about a police escort?
Orange was the site of one Wednesday, as Officer Chad Softic guided home friend Jamie Paluk, who was released from rehabilitation after being hospitalized with COVID-19.
Paluk’s wife, Amber, said her husband was on a ventilator for 17 of the 22 days he spent in an intensive care unit at Heywood Hospital in Gardner before he moved on to rehab. She said her husband is childhood friends with Softic.
Paluk, a longtime sports coach in town, said he has been overwhelmed with the support of family, friends and past and current players, many of whom lined up along a street to welcome Paluk home during a portion of the police escort. A video of the support can be found on the Orange Police Department’s Facebook page.
“It just shows how everybody can make a difference,” Paluk, 41, told the Greenfield Recorder on Wednesday.
He said he was initially diagnosed with pneumonia but got tested for COVID-19 after his boss tested positive. He said he was in the ICU the next morning.
Amber Paluk said her husband lost a substantial amount of muscle mass in the hospital and is still quite weak. She said he still has some numbness in his hand and leg and will require physical and occupational therapy for a while. But she raved about the quality of care at the hospital and rehab.
“What an amazing team they were,” she said. “They were phenomenal.”
Paluk’s mother, Melodie Towne, also expressed relief that life is starting to return to normal for the family.
“I am so happy,” she told the Recorder.
Orange Police Chief James Sullivan said Paluk is friends with several of his officers and he was happy to allow a cruiser to escort him home from rehab.
“We were all very excited to see him come home,”
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.