Sudbury dad gets big homecoming after conquering coronavirus

Families, friends, and neighbors all showed up to celebrate a miracle.

Beloved Sudbury neighbor Mike Walsh returned home Wednesday after a six-month battle with coronavirus and its lethal complications — including 110 days on a ventilator.

“It’s good to be home. It’s been a long road,” the 58-year-old told his loved ones.

Walsh’s battle with coronavirus started just before Christmas. His body reacted severely to the virus, and on New Year’s Day, he was placed on a ventilator at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. That was just the beginning.

Over the next three months, Walsh experienced a rash of complications, including kidney failure and a brain bleed. He lost part of his intestines due to blood clotting. His body developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder where the immune system attacks nerves.

The whole time, he was unconscious.

“We were very worried about him. We weren’t sure he’d make it,” said Newton-Wellesley ICU Nurse Director Karla Dejesus.

In fact, before Wednesday, Walsh had only been together with his wife and three sons on one occasion since getting sick.

“It’s been seven months since we were all together as a family, except when we were called into the ICU, thinking that was the end,” said Walsh’s wife, Laura Semple.

But Walsh’s fight wasn’t over. In April, he woke up and started his recovery.

Wednesday was a major step forward for the entire Walsh clan, who have been preparing for their dad’s return for months. With the help of funds raised by their Lincoln-Sudbury community, they’ve outfitted their home for Walsh’s recovery to make it wheelchair-accessible. They’ve even broken ground on a new room in the house that will be dedicated to Walsh’s medical equipment and rehabilitation.

With lots of work, Walsh could regain use of his limbs over the next year.

But Wednesday’s homecoming was a celebration in itself. Members of the Lincoln-Sudbury youth baseball program, which Walsh has championed for over a decade, wore red T-shirts reading “Walshie Strong,” and waved signs and balloons as an ambulance pulled up to the side street where the family lives.

The ambulance made a three-point turn and reversed up the road, so Walsh could see the flood of cheering faces welcoming him back.

“We did it. We were riding in the ambulance together, and we were like, ‘We did it,’ ” Semple said through tears.

After medical staff took him into his living room, Laura showed him how to operate his new electric wheelchair. As soon as she finished giving a quick tutorial, he made his way back down the new ramp on the side of the house and out to the crowd of loved ones waiting for him.

Then he did what everyone was waiting to do over the last year. He hugged them.

Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Bobby Biggins, 2, plays with balloons as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Signs welcome Michael Walsh home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisherÕs line the road as Michael Walsh returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: A police escort brings Michael Walsh home as he returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Sudbury, MA. - June 30: Well wisher Michael Koenig rides his Onewheel to wish Michael Walsh well as he returns home for the first time in more than 180 days after being hospitalized with complications due to Covid on June 30, 2021 in , Sudbury, MA. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)