Pregnant Georgia woman who battled COVID-19 for 39 days reunites with doctors, nurses

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A pregnant Georgia woman who battled COVID-19 for 39 days at the hospital reunited Thursday morning with the nurses who saved her life.

Jessica McCullough fought for her life at Memorial Health in Savannah.

She credited her survival to the healthcare workers who went above and beyond to save her.

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“I asked, and they said I got more than 20 units of blood,” McCullough said. “They could’ve easily given up and walked away, but they decided to keep trying.”

On Thursday, McCullough, her doctors and nurses laughed and hugged as McCullough paid them a visit to express her gratitude.

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McCullough, who has a pre-existing heart condition, come down with COVID-19 in her third trimester. Her baby was born at 34 1/2 weeks via emergency C-section

McCollough said, “They wheeled me into the delivery room and said, ‘Are you ready for your C-section? We’re doing a C-section in an hour’ and I went into a full-blown panic attack. I was like, ‘Are ya’ll crazy?’”

Thankfully, the baby was born healthy and tested negative for COVID-19.

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McCullough’s health battle was just beginning. She spent the next several weeks in the hospital.

“During the night before I went into respiratory arrest, I remember panicking and I called my mom in the middle of the night, saying, ‘Mom, you’ve got to pray for me. I can’t breathe,’” McCullough said.

After weeks of aggressive treatment and lifesaving measures, she was discharged on Oct. 22.

McCullough said she now considers these healthcare workers who went above and beyond to take care of her her family.

The workers said seeing patients like McCullough healthy and well makes what they do worth it.

“This is why we do what we do,” Cardiothoracic Surgeon Chadwick Stouffer said. “To give people like this a chance to return to their loved ones and to their lives.”

McCullough is doing much better. She still gets winded throughout the day and has to check her oxygen, but other than that, she’s back on her feet.

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