Duluth Woman Finally Home After Giving Birth While In A Coma

DULUTH, GA — A Duluth woman was finally able to hold her newborn baby for the first time since January after spending several months in the hospital battling COVID-19 infection.

Although Daysi Marcillo is now home with her son, Ragnar, she faces an uphill battle in her recovery. Marcillo had contracted the virus in early January while still pregnant, and the infection became so severe she had to be placed on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma, according to a report from 11 Alive News.

“It’s very rare for somebody for her condition to come through,” her sister-in-law Liliana Marcillo told the station. “There was a prayer circle in the Dominican Republic. There was a prayer circle in Puerto Rico, with my family. There was a prayer circle in Jamaica. There were prayer circles everywhere, just praying for Daysi.”

While she was in a coma, doctors had to deliver her son by performing an emergency cesarean section. Ragnar weighed roughly 3 pounds and had to stay in Gwinnett Northside and Piedmont Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit before becoming well enough to be sent home.

However, Marcillo remained hospitalized. Liliana Marcillo told the station the mother of five's family were unsure if she would be able to come home.

But on Monday, Daysi Marcillo was able to leave the hospital and hold her son again. She told the station her survival was a miracle.

“That’s the first time holding my baby since January," she said. "It’s amazing. It’s amazing to see my family. It’s amazing to be here. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”

Although Marcillo is now free of the hospital, her lungs have become damaged from the infection, with 11 Alive News reporting she may need to use an oxygen tank for the rest of her life.

Liliana Marcillo has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for her sister-in-law's home care. She wrote on the campaign page the money will go toward Daysi Marcillo's "rehab, medical expenses and hopefully a lung transplant."

As of Tuesday evening it had raised $26,705 of its $250,000 goal.

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