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A Georgia firefighter who was sick with COVID-19 for more than a month and placed on a ventilator died Monday from complications of the virus.
Harold Boone, a firefighter with Monroe County Emergency Services since 2016, had tested positive on Sept. 19, the agency said Tuesday. He was hospitalized and put on a ventilator on Sept. 25 before contracting double pneumonia and later passing away.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, Boone, 49, became infected with COVID-19 from a fellow firefighter with the virus while on duty at a fire station.
“Our department is truly devastated by the passing of Firefighter Harold Boone," Monroe County Emergency Services Chief Matthew Jackson said in a statement. "Harold was an exemplary employee who was highly respected throughout this department and the community. One of our volunteers told us last night that Harold was the reason he wanted to be a part of the fire service and he looked at Harold as his mentor. I have no doubt that there are many other persons who are firefighters today because of the example Harold set and the mentoring he gave to new firefighters over his long career in the fire service. Harold loved to make people laugh, and he will be deeply missed."
Boone began working part-time at Monroe County Emergency Services and became a full-timer in 2018. Before joining MCES, he worked for the Macon-Bibb Fire Department for 25 years before retiring.
Boone served in the U.S. Army Reserves for several years before becoming a firefighter. He also ran a successful auto body and paint shop in Twiggs County, according to the agency.
Boone's wife, Sharon, told MCES that she was unable to see her late husband during the last month of his life because of COVID-19 restrictions. The last she saw him was Sept. 25 when she called an ambulance because he was complaining of shortness of breath and severe headaches.
While he was in the hospital, Sharon Boone was only able to talk to her husband one time on the phone, and he told her he had requested to be put on a ventilator.
“It’s been so horrible,” Sharon Boone told MCES. “I’ve been waiting each day for the doctor to call. It’s just been hectic.”
