WALLINGFORD, Conn. — One man can now dream the impossible dream, thanks to Hartford Hospital and Gaylord Specialty Healthcare.
Peter Baldwin, 61, of West Hartford, has always been the life of the party and Friday, upon his discharge, he officially got his voice back.
“To dream the impossible dream,” he sang after greeting his family.
Peter Baldwin is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music and a carpenter by trade. So, he’s known as the singing carpenter.
“Every time we go out to eat at a restaurant and for a birthday dinner, he will get up in front of the whole restaurant and sing happy birthday in Italian opera,” said Annie Fawber, Peter’s Stepdaughter.
Singing, of course, requires great breathing, which has been hard for him since he entered Hartford Hospital, for COVID care, on May 17th.
“I was part of the first drug trial for Remdesivir,” Peter Baldwin said.
His doctors told his wife, Ella Fawber, while he was on a ventilator for nearly a week, he had a 50-50 shot of surviving.
“So that’s sobering,” said Baldwin.
“It’s been a long journey and it means everything to have him back,” said his daughter, Carey Baldwin-Barber, through tears.
Peter has sung the national anthem at Chicago’s famed Wrigley Field, but today, despite laboring a bit, was his most memorable performance.
His wife couldn’t take him to the emergency room in May because she had COVID too.
“I’m so excited,” his wife said, before her first hubby hug in a month.
The singing carpenter’s construction tools will be at rest for another couple of months, but he’s already got his first singing gig booked. A week from Sunday he and Ella celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary.
FOX61's Margaux Farrell caught up with Peter Saturday morning -- a day after his discharge -- about his experience and emotions after beating COVID-19.
See their conversation below.
