Woman gets ‘second life’ after battling COVID-19 for 8 months

• The woman was a nurse and a frontline healthcare worker
• She contracted COVID-19 in spring this year after which she was given paralysis-inducing sedation and placed on a ventilator
• The woman stayed in the hospital for 8 months before being discharged on Monday, December 21

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA: Despite knowing the perils of working with COVID-19 patients, nurse Merlin Pambuan continued to serve as a frontline healthcare worker when the coronavirus pandemic broke out earlier this year. 

According to a report by NDTV,  despite taking precautions Pambuan contracted the potentially deadly infection and had to be admitted to the intensive care unit of St Mary Medical Centre, the same place she worked for the last 40 years.

As her condition worsened, doctors had to render her unconscious by paralysis-inducing sedation. She was then placed on a ventilator and a feeding tube was later added.

The virus hit her hard and there was no sign of recovery for many months. Doctors said she came close to death on several occasions. Her family even started considering the option of euthanising her. 

Per the report, when the nurse woke up from her slumber and was able to breathe normally, she was still too weak to stand.

But she fought back and got painful therapy. 

Pambuan even celebrated her 66th birthday in St Mary's acute rehabilitation ward in late October.

On Monday, December 21, doctors finally declared her fit to go home. 

As she walked out of the hospital after her eight-month ordeal, hospital staffers and her loved ones applauded her battle against the disease for so long.

"This is my second life," Pambuan said before leaving the hospital.