UGA football staffer released from hospital after COVID-19 battle. This was the scene

Jeremy Klawsky, Georgia football’s video coordinator, received a parade-like sendoff Thursday outside of Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital. He was discharged after a lengthy battle with COVID-19.

Klawsky was the unnamed athletics staffer who contracted the virus before March 18 and did not return to campus after March 6. A number of athletic staffers and bystanders gave an ovation as Klawsky exited the hospital in a wheelchair. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart and athletic director Greg McGarity were among the group.

“Jeremy will continue to receive therapy as he recovers,” Georgia head athletic trainer Ron Courson said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “UGAA is very appreciative of the outstanding medical care and support he received during his hospitalization.”

Klawsky left Piedmont Athens Regional through the hospital’s “hero’s walk” of doctors, nurses and other staff members.

“This is what victory looks like. This is what hope looks like,” Piedmont Healthcare said with a video posted to Twitter of Klawsky’s release.

Georgia’s athletic offices have been closed since the middle of March as the university shifted to remote learning. The absence of face-to-face instruction continues through at least the end of the summer semester. Georgia’s sports teams are permitted to engage in Zoom meetings and other virtual methods of communication.

Klawsky’s diagnosis came in the early stages of the coronavirus spread. The totals have swelled to 102 cases and 12 deaths in Athens-Clarke County as of April 16. There are 15,669 cases of COVID-19 in the state, according to the Georgia Department of Health.