Hudson Valley Air Force Pilot Survives Battle With COVID-19

A Hudson Valley Air Force pilot who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq survived COVID-19 after spending nearly a month in the hospital, including 10 days on a ventilator.

On March 26, after a week of not feeling well, Stewart Air National Guardsman Major Paul Tucker Jancsy started having trouble breathing and was rushed to a hospital where he later tested positive for coronavirus.

The now 40-year-old joined the Air Force after 9/11. The pilot who served in Afghanistan and Iraq was healthy before COVID-19 but his health quickly worsened and on April 2 he was put on a ventilator.

Jancsy is a member of the 105th Airlift Wing out of Stewart Airpot in Newburgh. 10 days after being placed on a ventilator, on Easter, his condition improved and he was taken off a ventilator.

The Delta pilot was released after spending 28 days at Saratoga Hospital fighting COVID-19 on Thursday.

"The skies are blue, the sun is shining, and I’m coming home,” he told News 10. “I knew I was prepared to fight, but I just didn’t realize how extensive the fight would be. It was a long struggle."

As he left the hospital, he was cheered on by family, friends and members of the 105th Airlift Wing,