HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Back in 2021, abc27 spoke with a Harrisburg Lieutenant whose goal was to return to the department after a tough battle with COVID-19. However, he was recently welcomed back to the department.

Lt. Russell Winder has been with the Harrisburg Bureau of Police for nearly two decades.

In August of 2020, Winder was diagnosed with COVID-19 and he ended up in the hospital for months. For some of that time he was sedated and not able to breathe on his own.

After he was released from the hospital, he headed to a rehab facility before he could return home.

Once returning home, Winder still needed time to recover before returning to work. After months of recovery, two years after his diagnosis Winder was welcomed back to the department, or as Winder calls it, his other family.

“One thing about COVID, it can tax you mentally and physically, so it took just a little minute to get back up to speed. I knew I could do it, I knew I wanted to do it and I’ve succeeded in doing so,” explained Winder.

Winder will be celebrating 18 years with the department this summer.