Chicago-area mother, daughter return home after being hospitalized with COVID-19 for weeks

GLENDALE HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) -- A Chicago-area mother and daughter who spent several weeks in the hospital battling COVID-19 have returned home just in time to celebrate Mother's Day.

Betty Barrett was in the ICU designated for coronavirus patients for more than three weeks, with her oxygen levels dropping dangerously low. Barrett, both a mother and grandmother, turns 90 next month.

"My mom is a fighter," Barrett's daughter, Joann Magoch, said. "She is strong. She might be stronger than I am."

Magoch said she was hospitalized with the virus first. She self-isolated but her mom still got sick.

"It is a living nightmare because you do not know if you are going ot live or die," Joann said. "I did not know if I was going to live or die."

Before she was released from the hospital, the medical staff who were by Betty's side through it all sent her home with a birthday card and well wishes.

"The nurses were wonderful," Betty Barrett said.

The duo is sharing their story to give others who are battling the virus a living reminder that COVID-19 is not a death sentence.

"We are both survivors and we are lucky, but there is hope," Magoch said.

They're asking others to do their part to stop the spread of coronavirus.

"I know it can happen to other people, but try and stay home if we can," Magoch said.