KIRO’s Darren Dedo recovering after battle with bilateral pneumonia

Darren Dedo, a KIRO Newsradio reporter and loving father of four, was hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia in December. He was transferred to multiple ICU units, where doctors discovered his lungs hardened.

But a month later through ECMO — a form of life support for people with life-threatening illness or injury that affects the function of their heart or lungs — and exceptional medical care, Dedo was able to join The Gee and Ursula Show remotely from his hospital bed.

“They can’t get rid of me that easy,” Dedo said, his first words on-air in over a month. “They said, ‘Hey, you’re on death’s doorstep,’ and I said, ‘Nuh-uh. That door is not open. I’ve got business to take care of.'”

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Bilateral interstitial pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs. Like other interstitial lung diseases, bilateral pneumonia affects the tissue around the tiny air sacs in your lungs.

While unconfirmed for Dedo’s personal bout with pneumonia, bilateral pneumonia can develop in severe cases of COVID-19, according to Prevention Health.

“I kept getting progressively worse, and they kept monitoring me,” Dedo said. “And then they had to go for, they call it a ‘Hail Mary’ which scares me. The ECMO machine gets oxygen to your lungs and your heart, which, for a lot of COVID patients, was kind of a last-ditch effort for them. They put me on that for a couple of weeks, and by the grace of God, I was able to get better. But it was pretty scary stuff.”

Dedo was an investigative news reporter and a television news anchor, covering news in markets across the country, before returning to his roots in Seattle to cover an issue plaguing his old city: Crime.

Dedo has been hospitalized for more than 40 days but is counting his blessings.

“Yeah, that ECMO machine with the folks here at Swedish Hospital [First Hill Campus], it literally was a lifesaver,” Dedo said. “If my body didn’t take to that, we may not be here having a conversation right now.

“It literally was 50/50,” Darren continued. “So either it took or it didn’t take, and that might have even been lower, they said maybe 25%. So I beat the odds, that’s the good thing.”

But no matter his current state, Dedo had his eyes on the news, even as doctors and nurses warned against it.

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“Oh, man, I got the TV on all the time. I’m listening to the radio,” Dedo said. “They’re even telling me, ‘Hey man, you got to take a break from the news. This is not helping you.'”

You can visit Darren Dedo’s GoFundMe, organized by his wife, Sharon, by following the link here.

“Man, we miss you, brother,” Gee said.

“I miss you guys too. I mean, it’s just been surreal,” Dedo said. “You know, and as you said, it’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint. That’s what they keep telling me. And my goal is always to try and get back. It’s just, I’ve got the voice, I’m just really tired as you can imagine. It’s a pretty traumatic thing for your body. And I’m trying to play catch up right now.”

Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.