By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
(TMU) — An adorable six-month-old baby girl has miraculously overcome coronavirus while also struggling with respiratory illness, collapsed lungs, and a rare heart defect.
Erin Bates of Manchester, U.K., was cheered by nurses, doctors, and medical staff as she was escorted through her hospital after triumphing over what seemed like improbable odds that she would survive COVID-19.
Only weeks prior to Erin’s recovery, parents Emma and Wayne Bates were told that her chances of survival were unlikely.
Photographs shared by Erin’s parents showed the tiny, bright-eyed infant in a high-dependency unit at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, where she was wearing an oxygen mask while surrounded by tubes and medical machinery.
Her diagnosis arrived after she was recovering from open-heart surgery to treat a rare condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, a birth defect that impacts the normal flow of blood through the heart, according to 7NEWS.
As she was recovering, Erin contracted the respiratory syncytial virus before being diagnosed with other conditions that prevented her from breathing properly, such as bronchomalacia and tracheomalacia.
Things were already looking desperate for Erin as she was unable to breathe for herself even prior to her testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on April 10.
The family was especially impacted by the diagnosis because of rules imposed following the outbreak of the pandemic that allowed only one parent to stay in the hospital with the infant.
Erin’s desperate parents were “heartbroken” by Erin’s COVID-19 diagnosis, they told BBC, and the young couple was circulating photos of Erin to prod the public into taking the government’s physical distancing guidelines more seriously and to stay indoors.
However, on Thursday the parents received the wonderful news that Erin had beat all the odds and recovered from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Erin’s ecstatic father Wayne, 32, announced the news on Facebook. He posted:
“Erin has beaten the virus. It hit her hard with a few ups and downs but we wanted people to know coronavirus doesn’t have to be a death sentence for people with pre-existing conditions.
“She is all smiles and talking to herself.”
Staff at the NHS were also overjoyed that their efforts had contributed to saving the infant’s life. The hospital held an impromptu celebration that included an “honor guard” of medical workers who cheered on Erin before her beaming, proud parents.
6 month old Erin 👶 was recently diagnosed with #COVID19 and was in an isolation room here for 14 days with mum Emma whilst being treated 🏥 Today, Erin beat COVID-19 & received a guard of honour by the treating team on our HDU as she was moved out of isolation 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/hiYQFEaLmF
— 🏥 Alder Hey 💙 (@AlderHey) April 24, 2020
In a statement, the hospital said:
“You may have heard about six-month-old Erin, who is in Alder Hey after recently being diagnosed with COVID-19. Erin was in an isolation room here for 14 days with mum Emma whilst being treated by our staff.
“Today, little Erin beat COVID-19 after testing negative and received a guard of honor by the treating team on our HDU as she was moved out of isolation. She is still being treated for other conditions at Alder Hey but is making good progress.
“Erin’s mum said of the staff who treated her: ‘Thank you so much to each and every one of them, we couldn’t have got through it without them. They are all truly amazing and we will be forever grateful.'”
While Erin will continue to remain a long-term patient due to the range of medical issues that confront her, her family nevertheless remain “relieved” and “proud” of their baby, and endlessly grateful to the medical workers who ensured that she survived.
Erin’s mother Emma, 29, also posted on Facebook:
“Our little girl has beat COVID-19. We are so proud.
“Thank you to all the staff at Alder Hey you are truly amazing.”
While Emma has been accompanying Erin, Wayne has gone into self-isolation due to his contact with the baby. In the meantime, the family remains in constant contact via Facetime and phone calls.
However, the family is still struggling to cover Erin’s hospital bills while also remaining by her side at the hospital. You can donate to a GoFundMe page set up by a family friend here.
