MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There’s a saying that there’s nothing like a mother’s love. Here’s one mother who beat the odds.
The Memphis woman, diagnosed with COVID-19, underwent a C-section, giving birth while in a medically induced coma, on a ventilator.
Susie Espinoza is sharing her incredible story and a message to the community after the birth of her baby boy Brandon.
Today, Susie, a mother of four who just celebrated Christmas at home with family, is thankful to be here. She is undergoing outpatient rehab at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital Memphis, part of Methodist Healthcare.
“I asked God, ‘Please let me come back to my kids,'” she said.
Susie’s story goes back to May, when she was 27 weeks pregnant. She tested positive for COVID-19, and became so sick, she knew she knew she had to go to the hospital.
“I put the kids to bed before I left, but of course it crossed my mind, would I come back to see them?” she said. “But I couldn’t breathe, I was so sick.”
Her last memory was being wheeled down a hospital hallway. She was placed on a ventilator.
Weeks later she woke up, realizing she had undergone a C-section to give birth to healthy baby Brandon.
“I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed at that moment.”
Susie spent some 70 days in the hospital.
The active 37-year-old now goes to rehab to work on her strength and treat nerve damage she’s lost. She’s friends with the doctors, nurses, and physical therapists who help her.
” I think she’s bounced back beautifully,” said Kristen Holmes, her physical therapist.
Her nurse, Stacie Wirth, admires Susie’s strength, calling her an inspiration.
“I mean, that’s what a mom does. She puts herself last,” Wirth said. “To see her walk now is amazing. It’s nothing short of a miracle.”
Showing her scars, Susie now calls her life a blessing. She says she took every precaution to protect herself from the virus, and now has a warning.
“I mean these are my battle scars and people are not taking this serious, they’re not. And I see parties, people gathering and people should take it serious,” she said.
Susie says she especially wants to get the message of safety out to the Hispanic community, where she believes there needs to be more education and outreach. She also thanks all of the nurses and doctors who have taken care of her.