A Pennsylvania mom is counting her blessings after she spent nearly eight months in the hospital battlingCOVID-19, but was able to return home just in time forThanksgiving.

“There were days where it was a struggle to get up, but giving up was never an option,” she explained. “I was determined to get home before the holidays, to be able to be with [my husband and children].”

“So it definitely feels incredible to be able to be home and spend Thanksgiving with my family,” she added.

Fuentes was forced to undergo an emergency C-section, welcoming Enzo early at 32 weeks, before her condition worsened and she contracted severe pneumonia and went into lung failure, ABC affiliateWPVIreported.

Doctors eventually put Fuentes on an ECMO machine, where she remained for nearly six months, receiving treatment from hospitals around the area, including Paoli Hospital, Lankenau Medical Center and Kindred Hospital, per WPVI.

“It was very tough,” Fuentes recalled to the outlet. “I felt very weak and tired.”

“I told Bryn Mawr Rehab that I was very determined to get home for the holidays, so they made it happen and they pushed me every day so I could get stronger and get home in time for Thanksgiving,” Fuentes explained to WPVI.

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“It’s surreal for seven months and five days, it was just me and the kids here,” Adrian told WPVI. “And it was such a lonely feeling every single day. It was horrible coming home every day and not having [Marissa] here.”

On Wednesday, Fuentes was finally released from rehab as staffers lined the halls to cheer and applaud for her accomplishment, according to WPVI.

Though she was in a wheelchair, is still on oxygen and has a long road ahead of her, Fuentes is grateful to be alive.

“I’m not only thankful for my kids and my husband every day, but especially today to be with them,” she told WPVI. “Living the best life with my kids, being home with them means the world.”

“The fact that she made it home the day before Thanksgiving, it’s nothing short of a miracle,” Adrian added to the outlet.

source: people.com