North Texas Mom Who Survived Serious Bout Of COVID-19 Meets Son 5 Weeks After Giving Birth
ANNA, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - We've heard the stories of those who have survived COVID-19 with the help of ventilators.
But there aren't many stories like the one a Collin County woman told CBS 11 Thursday.
Courtney Thomas had no idea that one of the greatest moments of her life would happen while she was fighting for her life."I honestly don't remember anything," she said.The 38-year-old gave birth to her first child at Medical City McKinney on the same day she was placed on a ventilator.
Doctors were forced to deliver her baby boy a month early because his mother was losing her battle with COVID-19."I do feel an emotional state that at first that I was robbed of that first you know, initial meeting and greeting," said Thomas.They were kept apart for days that turned to weeks while Thomas slowly recovered.Her son, Briggs was born healthy and already 5 weeks old by the time he finally got to meet his mother.
The baby went home with his father, Bryan while Courtney began a long road to recovery that included therapy just to build up the strength to hold her newborn."When we get people to our rehab unit, we want to get them home as safe as we can as fast as we can that's our biggest goal," said Dr. Steven Avers, Medical City McKinney Physiatrist. "For her, the additional motivation of getting her back home to her baby.""So I got to meet him, I think on November 4, and that was an amazing overwhelming feeling. It was absolutely a little bit happy and gut wrenching," said Courtney.
Gut wrenching for the lost time, but the bond between this mother and child has been nothing but strong since they've been home together in Anna."Everybody's kept telling me that he knows my heartbeat and he knows me," Courtney said.