Chicago coronavirus survivor returns home after 10 weeks in 2 hospitals, rehab center

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It took two and a half months, but Marian Steele fought COVID-19 and won, and now she's back home.

Steele said prayer paved her wake back to her South Side home.

"We was just blessed that she was able to come back to us, and we are thankful for that," said her sister Elisa LUckey.

Marian and her husband Robert were taken by ambulance from their South Side home on March 31 to a hospital. Robert had already tested positive for the coronavirus. Marian would soon find out she was also infected.

Robert returned home two weeks later, but Marian had a much tougher fight against the virus. Already a cancer survivor, she suffered a heart attack while in the hospital.

"Everything they said would go wrong went wrong, but God was on our side," said her sister Rachel Sanders.

"It's been a little rough, not having her around and not seeing her face and not being able to touch her," Robert said. "In prayer, I could always be near her when I prayed."

She stayed at two hospitals and then at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab for rehab. She was released from rehab Thursday morning and said she couldn't wait to embrace her husband of 29 years.

"This here is my best friend and my spirit really missed him," she said. "So it is wonderful to have the feeling of him near me."

Although she still has a ways to go in her recovery, she's just happy to be back home and see her family and friends in person, rather than over the phone. She said she never lost hope she'd survive.

"We have, unfortunately, lost a lot of people because of this virus, but I want people to know that COVID isn't automatically a death sentence," she said.

When their family clears out, the couple said they're looking forward to having dinner together.