Yes, there is still good news in the world in the time of coronavirus. We may be in the middle of a global health crisis the likes of which none of us has ever experienced, but every day inspiring stories of hope, help, and recovery are emerging and for that we’re so grateful.
Take Yanira Soriano, a woman who contracted COVID-19 while she was also 34 weeks pregnant in Long Island, New York. CNN’s Jake Tapper told her incredible story in a Twitter thread and the ending is a very happy one—but it didn’t begin that way.
Soriano became so ill doctors had to put her in a medically induced coma while also hooking her up to a ventilator to help her breathe. They were concerned she would not survive and delivered her baby via an emergency C-section. The infant was transferred to another hospital for monitoring. Miraculously, after 11 days, Soriano began to recover from the coronavirus. On April 15, she was released from the hospital to cheers from doctors and nurses.
But even more importantly, she was finally able to meet her son Walter for the very first time, with cameras recording her husband putting the newborn into her arms as she sat in her wheelchair surrounded by the hospital’s staff. Warning: It’s incredibly emotional—but the rare happy ending that we all need to see so much right now.
The online response to the story shows just how much the world is hungry for happy news during a really tough time. “I’ve sent this to my son who is an ER doctor,” one person tweeted. “These people do so much work to save lives and it’s easy to forget that they’re humans with emotions too. This is a lovely thread which portrays that very well.”
“That’s the sweetest thing, I’ve seen in awhile! I’m crying happy tears! Thank you for sharing. So many heros! [sic],” another wrote.
We hope Walter and his mom had a very wonderful first night together at home. Now, we’ll just be watching this video on a loop to keep our mood lifted.
