Houston firefighter put off getting vaccinated — now he needs new lungs to survive

A Houston firefighter who kept putting off vaccination will need new lungs to survive a weeks-long battle with COVID-19.

Wayne Davis caught the coronavirus on the job and has been hospitalized since the middle of last month, but his wife has watched his condition worsen knowing the worst symptoms could have been prevented, reported KHOU-TV.

"I was vaccinated and I just kept getting on him to go do it," said his wife, Caitlin Davis. "He would say, 'I'll go do it,' and kept putting it off. He just never did it."

The father of three remains ICU at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in desperate need of a bilateral lung transplant, and doctors say he won't survive without new lungs.

"The virus destroyed his lungs," his wife said. "It's just been a rollercoaster of emotions day-by-day, wondering if we're going to get the phone call that he's passed."

Four of Wayne's colleagues on the fire department have already died from COVID-19, and Caitlin Davis said her husband's life-threatening infection should serve as a wakeup call to others who've been hesitant to get vaccinated.

"Our story shows people that it isn't just older people," she said. "It can be your family very easily."

'COVID-19 destroyed his lungs' | HFD firefighter, father of 3, needs transplant to survive

'COVID-19 destroyed his lungs' | HFD firefighter, father of 3, needs transplant to survivewww.khou.com

Caitlin Davis said her husband kept putting off getting vaccinated, and now she prays her family's story pushes others to roll up their sleeves before it's too late.