MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Tuesday, the state of Florida hit another pandemic record: Data shows more than 11,000 people are currently hospitalized with the virus — 2,400 of them in ICU beds.

What You Need To Know

  •  Data shows that there are currently more than 11,000 Floridians in the hospital with COVID-19

  •  Of those, about 2,400 are in the ICU

  • COVID patient Lloyd Jarrett was one of them for 6 months before finally heading home Tuesday

At Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Ocala, a COVID-19 survivor was just released Tuesday to go home after 6 months in the hospital.

Lloyd Jarrett had a very severe case of the disease, which caused him to be intubated, go into cardiac arrest, and even caused him to lose his ability to walk.

"That’s Lily, and this is Max, and then that’s Shay Shay," Jarrell said, pointing to pictures. He hasn’t seen his pets, or his wife, in in months.

“Even being in the military, you’re only away fore those 6 months for the Air Force for deployment," he said. "The longest one I’ve done is 8 months. And it’s the same feeling when you know you’re about to go home and you’re like, "Oh, it’s time.”

Back in February, the military man was fighting not to serve his country, but to save his own life after catching a severe case of COVID-19.

“I caught it in February, but after the second day of being in the hospital, I don’t remember anything until after April when they fully woke me up," he said. "So everything in between there, I had my wife tell me.”

Before Tuesday, the only times he’d been outside were when he was being transferred between hospitals.

“They induced me because my heart stopped for 5 minutes in March," said Jarrell. "Then my kidneys stopped and they came back. I had chest tubes in, a feeding tube in, trachea in.”

For now, Jarrell is putting this battle to bed.

He packed his bags, and wheeled his way out the hospital doors Tuesday to head home to his wife, who was waiting to serve up a taste of southern comfort.

What he's most looking forward to as he heads home? Gumbo.

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach," Jarrell said. "She has definitely won my heart through my stomach."

As he returns to the life he missed — a life without tubes or machines — he had this message to share.

“Understand that COVID’s real, and be there for the people who do have it, and you know them," said Jarrell.

In addition to that, his parting words were to take safety precautions seriously.​