HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB/CNN Newsource/WKRC) - It has been a long road to recovery for a father from Florida. Robby Walker went on a grueling cross-country search to find a hospital to save his life.

Two months ago, the unvaccinated father of six was dying of COVID-19, couldn't find a hospital in Florida with a bed for him and was told he would not survive.

Pneumonia spread to both of Walker's lungs. So his family was looking for hospitals that offered ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation).

Walker's wife, Susan, got her family together and called hospitals around the country -- a reported 169 of them. She also posted a plea for help on social media.

Robert Gallagher, M.D., cardiothoracic surgeon at Trinity Health of New England and with Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford saw that post and knew the hospital could help.

Walker, 52, was on the heart-lung machine for 22 days and then spent a month rehabbing at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare in Wallingford, some 1000-plus miles from home.

“I thought about the hardship this family was going through and their inability to provide care for their loved one,” Dr. Gallagher said in an interview with WFSB.

Walker lost 50 pounds and couldn't stand up on his own, but now he's heading home to Florida.

On Tuesday, Walker became Gaylord Specialty Healthcare's 307th COVID-19 patient to get discharged.

Susan Walker thanked the medical team for saving her husband’s life.

"You know the risk. if you are willing to take a chance, we are willing to take a chance with you. without that chance my husband wouldn't be sitting here right now. I am forever grateful. I think we're friends for life. So I just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts."