COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lancaster woman Cierra Chubb was hospitalized with COVID-19 in July and has finally left the hospital after 95 days.
“For me personally, this has been like running a relay race and passing the baton off to myself every time. Going to the hospital which is an hour away from our home and coming back to be with Myles and my oldest daughter Eden and my two year old Langston...having to smile and move them forward. While also cry and believe that their mom was going to get better," said Cierra's husband Jamal.
Jamal said he's relieved to have his wife out of the hospital and working toward recovery in rehab. After she gave birth to their newborn Myles two weeks early in July, she was placed on a ventilator until she eventually learned to breathe on her own.
“She did 17, after 17 she pushed it to 24 hours of herself being off the vent. That 24 hours went to 48 and that 48 hours they wheeled the ventilator out the room," said Chubb.
Every day since she's been diagnosed, Jamal has been sharing their journey on Tik Tok. Some of the videos have gotten more than one million views. Chubb said it's been a blessing and a curse.
“Bittersweet. Because it’s so kind of people to have joined the journey and to have been with us but nobody wants to be known for their wife being at death’s door and their family going through a hard time," he said.
Now Cierra is in physical therapy working on regaining her strength from nerve damage in her foot so she can come back home.
“She’s in really high spirits hoping to get home and doing the hard work of rehabilitation so she can be ready to be here and be with her children," said Chubb.
He said he's taken off time from work to care for their children but goes back to work on November 4. He also said although he's expecting Cierra to return home within three weeks, there's a long road ahead.
“While I’m celebrating my wife coming home and my kids getting their mother back, it’s not lost on me what we could have lost and how different our life is and I just want anybody to know if they’ve lost somebody to COVID-19, my heart is with them."