NEW YORK (WCBS) – A young woman who has struggled against adversity her entire life has recently defeated COVID-19.
On Tuesday she got a surprise from the doctors and nurses who saved her life.
After a terrifying battle with COVID-19 a year ago, Gabriella Acosta is celebrating her 21st birthday.
The pediatric staff she looked after at Staten Island University Hospital surprised her with a wrestling-themed birthday party to match this avid fan and the fighter she turned out to be.
When asked if she would like to say something to the doctors who have helped her, Acosta said, “I think thank you. I am a bit nervous.”
And who could blame Gabi for being nervous? At least there were television news cameras welcoming them to see their doctors at the hospital again.
“She seems to be fine. This is a very great feel-good moment, ”said Dr. Pamela Feuer, director of pediatric intensive care at Staten Island University Hospital.
Acosta, who has Down syndrome, was the hospital’s first pediatric patient with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, which in her case was complicated by asthma and diabetes.
The hospital staff already knew Acosta. There she was hospitalized in 2017 because of pneumonia. But during the pandemic, only her mother could be by her side. Her father could only see her virtually.
“The first day she was admitted, I wasn’t allowed upstairs and just sat outside for a few hours. You feel hopeless, you know, ”said her father Tony Acosta. “She is my angel.”
“I had to make all the decisions myself. It was terrifying, ”said mother Elizabeth Acosta.
Fearing the worst, Elizabeth got out of her daughter’s bed for the near month that she was admitted to the hospital where Gabi was intubated for two weeks.
“I talked to her every night. I thought, ‘Gabriella, we both have to stay out here together. I can’t leave you behind, ‘”she said.
After the experimental treatment at the time, Gabi finally breathed independently.
When she was well enough to go home, the children’s department saw her off.
Now she’s back on her trike that her father fitted with lights and she’s definitely got her cum back.
She ended her hospital visit grateful that she was getting stronger every day.
