Agnes Velasquez, a mother from Florida who lived in her daughter’s intensive care room, cries at the sight of her child walking

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It was the first time that Paulina had walked since her hospitalization with the Covid-19.

“It was my idea,” Paulina said. “The physiotherapist came over and we used the walker and walked around the bed three times. I was happy.”

Velasquez said her fear for her daughter’s life has been replaced with joy and happiness. “I feel like a big stone just came out of my chest,” she said.

Velasquez said she didn’t expect to see her child walking again so soon.

“I thought it was going to take a little longer because she just came out of the ventilator and coma,” she said.

Velasquez said physiotherapists came to her daughter’s room on Wednesday and asked her to walk. “And she did and she didn’t want to stop. She wanted to walk and walk and I just had tears in my eyes.”

Velasquez has been living in her daughter’s intensive care room at Broward Health Medical Center for weeks, praying that she will survive Covid-19.

Paulina’s doctor, Dr Venu Devabhaktuni, medical director of Broward Health’s pediatric intensive care unit, said the teenager was “kind of touch and go” while on a ventilator.

“Things could have gone wrong quickly, but she recovered because she is a healthy young child. That I think was in favor of her healing,” Devabhaktuni said.

This Florida mom has been living in her teenage daughter's ICU room for days, praying she survives Covid-19
Velasquez and her daughter said they encourage others, especially teenagers, to get the vaccine.

“I think you should get vaccinated,” said Paulina, who was not vaccinated. “I don’t want anyone to experience what I’ve been through. And I don’t want anyone’s parents to experience what my parents have experienced and seen.”

Two weeks ago, CNN first spoke to Velasquez on a video call from the hospital room.

At the time, Paulina had been hospitalized for about 10 days.

Velasquez said she told her daughter every day: “Fight for your life”.

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She said when her daughter started to feel unwell and couldn’t breathe, the teen called her mother for help.

Velasquez said she rushed to rescue her unmasked daughter, not believing the deadly virus had already infiltrated her home. A few days later, the worried mother tested positive despite her vaccination against the virus.

“I probably got it from her,” said Velasquez, who suffered only minor symptoms.

The worried mother then said her sons were being vaccinated. Velasquez helped coordinate their vaccines from her daughter’s bedroom, where she spent every hour of the day with her daughter.

CNN’s Rosa Flores, John Couwels, and Kacey Cherry contributed to this report.

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