PARMA, Ohio — It's been the most challenging year of her life, but 28-year-old Michelle Zubek is keeping the faith.
In November 2021, she was hospitalized with COVID-19. To make matters much worse, she was 22 weeks pregnant with her second son, Michael. Already a mother to son Jimmy, age 3.
"(Doctors) saw that I was going to extreme liver failure," Michelle said.
Her life was in danger, but so was her baby's.
"They said, 'Just so you know, if we don't take the baby out, we can't save you both,'" Michelle said. "I was terrified."
With just a 1-2% chance of surviving, Michael was delivered.
"He was born the smallest that he could have been. He was one pound, four ounces," Michelle said.
After just a few days at home, she got the worst call she could ever imagine as a mom.
"Got the phone call around one o'clock in the morning of them saying that, 'This is it,'" Michelle remembered.
Baby Michael wasn't ready to give up. In fact, his heart kept beating.
"So since that day, his heart has been the only organ that's worked," Michelle said.
Doctors were baffled. Yet, challenges would continue for Michael, with a team of heroes at the helm of his survival.
"So he was born at (MetroHealth Medical Center). He stayed there for six months. And then we got transported to University Hospital where he stayed there for another six months. We left when he was a year old. And then, while at University Hospital, his main surgeon is at Cleveland Clinic for his eyes," Michelle said of his care.
After more than a year of countless surgeries and procedures, Michael came home.
"I guess, even to this second, I still don't believe it," Michelle said.
Expressing thanks seems inadequate, but Michelle still wants to honor the health care heroes who helped save her boy.
"There's no level of gratitude I can give to them (because) they gave me something that everybody told us was impossible. They told us this was never possible. And so, when he celebrated his first birthday, that was the most incredible day," Michelle said.
Michael has a long health road ahead of him, but he's been proving doubters wrong since the day he was born.
"He's the most incredible fighter on planet Earth. Like, I can't imagine a better kid to call my son," Michelle said.
Editor's Note: The following video is from a previous, unrelated report.
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