Michael Pickering, a 45-year-old veteran Chicago firefighter, died from COVID-19 complications Friday morning.
Pickering's stepson, John Christian, said his death was unexpected. "Him getting sick like this was just the last thing any of us saw coming," Christian said. "We really didn't expect it to go this way."
Pickering's relatives said he got sick a few weeks ago and was eventually hospitalized and placed on a respirator. It's unclear how he contracted the virus.
Pickering, who joined the Chicago Fire Department in 2003 and was assigned to Engine 29 in the Bridgeport neighborhood, is the fourth member of the department to die from complications of the virus.