
A Crystal Lake mother is recovering after a nearly month-long battle with COVID-19 that forced her to give birth early and be put into a coma.
A fundraiser, started by family friend Kathryn Dominick Vitkus, has raised nearly $17,000 to help the Kelly family with bills after the mother, Samantha, was hospitalized with COVID-19.
Samantha and her husband, Donnell, along with their two children, all tested positive for COVID-19 on August 22.
Samantha was admitted to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin and later transferred to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge on August 27, WGN News reported.
The woman’s health declined over the next few days and on September 6 she had an emergency C-section, WGN News reported.
Samantha had to be intubated and was put into an induced coma.
Donnell is the primary source of income for the family and has not been able to work.
His newly-employed job required him to go back to work. He does not qualify for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and he exhausted his vacation and sick pay, Vitkus said.
On Saturday, Samantha was removed from the ventilator and was able to see her newborn baby, Holden.
“She is extremely weak and will have a long road to recovery but we can finally see the light after being in this dark place,” Samantha’s mother said.
On Tuesday, Samantha was interviewed by ABC7 Chicago and said, “I was almost dead, couple of scary times where I heard I was close to not making it.”
“I wish I would’ve gotten vaccinated, I really wish I would’ve,” she said. “I hope every pregnant woman gets it. It’s so much better than near death.”
Donnell was vaccinated but Samantha said she was holding off on getting the vaccine because she was pregnant.
She had changed her mind once her husband tested positive for COVID-19, at which point it was too late as she was also infected.