Maya McFadden Photo
Back home on the mend.
That’s the latest word on the condition of fire Lt. Samod “Nuke” Rankins.
Rankins has returned home from Yale New Haven Hospital, his second hospital stay after surviving a fire that killed a colleague.
Rankins was originally put in a coma in the Bridgeport Hospital burn unit as a result of near-fatal injuries he suffered while fighting a Valley Street fire on May 12. His firefighting colleague Ricardo Torres Jr. was killed in that same blaze.
As friends and family buttressed him with prayers from afar, Rankins emerged from the coma. He got better day by day. He was able to return home two weeks ago.
Then this past week he was admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital because of lung complications.
“He’s being released,” a close friend, retired Fire Lt. Gary Tinney, offered in an update Tuesday afternoon. “No visitors at this time. It’s imperative that he gets some well deserved rest.”
Rankins’ family thanked the public for its “continued support.”
Godspeed.