Mom hospitalized with COVID for 7 months home for Thanksgiving

CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. (KYW) - “Home for the holidays” has special meaning for a Pennsylvania mother hit hard by COVID-19. She was hospitalized for months with serious complications but has returned home just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family.

For Marissa Fuentes, the journey home Wednesday started with leaving the wheelchair behind amid a hero’s send off from Bryn Mawr Rehab after a month at the Chester County, Pennsylvania, facility.

“There were days that it was really a struggle to get up, but giving up was never an option. I was determined to get home to my babies and my husband,” Marissa Fuentes said.

The young mother was hospitalized in April with a nearly fatal COVID-19 infection. She was seven months pregnant at the time, and her baby boy was safely delivered via emergency C-section.

Her son was 5 months old before Marissa Fuentes, still battling effects of the virus, was able to see him in the hospital.

“It was very tough. I felt very weak and tired,” she said.

Marissa Fuentes was released from the hospital in October but needed a month in rehab before she could return to her family. Now, after a round of emotional goodbyes and thank yous, she is finally back home after seven months.

“I’ll never be able to fully express my gratitude for what everyone’s done for my wife,” said Marissa Fuentes’ husband, Adrian Fuentes. “The fact that she made it home the day before Thanksgiving is nothing short of a miracle.”

As they celebrate the holiday and their reunion, the Fuentes family is planning a traditional Thanksgiving meal with an extra helping of gratitude.

“I was determined to get home before the holidays to be with them, so it definitely feels incredible being able to be home and spend Thanksgiving with my family,” Marissa Fuentes said. “I am thankful for all the doctors and the nurses that saved my life, my incredible husband, my family, my children and God for giving me this opportunity to be here still and to be able to tell my story.”

The mother’s story also includes an urgent message about the importance of vaccinations. She says she wishes she had gotten the COVID-19 vaccination back in April, but at the time, distribution was still limited and little was known about any dangers to pregnant women.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that pregnant and recently pregnant people get vaccinated for COVID-19. This group is more likely to get severely ill from the virus than those who aren’t pregnant.

The agency says safety data suggests the benefits of the vaccine “outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy.”

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