Pinehurst, NC – Hundreds of community members gathered on Thursday for a cooking evening to raise money for a Moore County firefighter fighting COVID-19.
John Wilson, who works for fire departments in Southern Pines, Aberdeen and Pinebluff, was recently released from IC after more than a month of fighting the coronavirus.
Wilson, who tested positive for the coronavirus on January 7 before spending more than 40 days in the ICU, is making progress but still has a long road to recovery.
All money raised on Thursday during the Pinehurst Surgical Clinic fundraiser will go directly to Wilson’s family to pay his medical bills.
Nearly 1,000 people showed up to support the Wilson family.
Wilson, standing six feet tall, is fondly referred to as ‘Big John’ by the residents of Southern Pines.
His wife, Jessica Wilson, said that, aside from his high blood pressure, Wilson was a healthy man before he got COVID-19. During his stay in the ICU, Wilson developed blood clots in his lungs. He was heavily sedated for weeks and lost 45 pounds before being released from the ICU on February 25.
WRAL reporter Bryan Mims contributed to this report.