MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Wednesday, a family celebrated a milestone that they once feared wouldn’t happen.
Missy Smith has been watching her mother, Carolyn, battle COVID-19 at St. Thomas Rutherford for a month.
This week, Smith decided to throw a suprise gathering to celebrate her mom’s recovery and 67th birthday.
The gathering was held outside the hospital with family members who wore masks and carried balloons and signs.
Carolyn was moved to her hospital room window so she could look down below and see her family members.
“She’s wiping the tears from her eyes, those are happy tears!” said Smith when she saw her mom’s expression.
In early July, Smith’s mom contracted the novel coronavirus and was rushed to the hospital within days.
Her mom has a pre-exisiting condition and developed pneumonia in one lung.
“When she told me that she had it [COVID-19] and they were on 90 liters of oxygen – I thought we were going to be planning her funeral, not sitting here celebrating her 67th birthday, 20 days later.”
Now, Carolyn is on three liters of oxygen.
Smith and her sister, Kim Cross, credit their mom’s plasma transfusion for the improvement; the plasma was from someone who recovered from COVID-19.
“We are so very appreciative,” said Cross, “…she made a turn around right away.”
Smith said she hopes her mom’s story will prompt others to take COVID-19, seriously.
Near the end of the celebration, she yelled up at her mother’s window, “…We love you mom, keep fighting!”
