A South Carolina woman has been fighting for her life in the intensive care unit for 16 days after contracting COVID-19 while pregnant and giving birth to her son.
Jamal Chubb, whose wife Cierra Chubb remains in the ICU after contracting the virus, has been detailing his wife’s condition in heart-wrenching videos to TikTok after returning home alone to parent their newborn son Myles.
Cierra, 33, tested positive for COVID-19 in late July and was admitted to a hospital near the family’s home in Lancaster on July 24, her husband said. Myles was born by c-section on July 26 – two weeks early.
When she contracted the virus, she had been waiting to get the vaccine until after Myles’ birth out of fears for her son’s safety. Jamal has said that doctors told him it remains ‘not likely’ that Cierra will survive the virus – while he hopes for a miracle.
Jamal Chubb, whose wife Cierra Chubb remains in the ICU after contracting the virus, has been detailing his wife’s condition in heart-wrenching videos to TikTok
Cierra, 33, tested positive for COVID-19 in late July and was admitted to a hospital near the family’s home in Lancaster on July 24
Jamal, who is vaccinated and did not contract COVID-19, first posted a video of Cierra laboriously breathing with an oxygen mask in the hospital on July 30 while he tearfully watches her.
‘She was 38 weeks pregnant and we had to deliver early because the baby was in distress,’ Jamal said in a video on July 31, before introducing his new son Myles.
‘Please pray for my family. We have two other kids and have been married for 12 years.’
He added: ‘Delta variant COVID is destroying my family. I understand only 2% of the people in the nation die from COVID – but that 2% is 100% of somebody’s life.’
By August 1, the hospital had to put Cierra onto a ventilator – which he called the hardest day of his life. He asked for those following his family’s health crisis to send him stories where they had been in his shoes and their loved ones recovered.
Jamal has continued to give updates about his wife’s condition nearly every day since as her condition has worsened. Cierra was put onto a ventilator, before doctors ultimately put her into a medically-induced coma.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Jamal for further updates about his wife’s condition and additional comments.
The worried husband told Good Morning America that he believes the family was exposed to the virus after their daughter, 7, attended a summer sports camp where employees later tested positive.
Cierra has since given birth to the couple’s third child while fighting for her life in the intensive care unit
Jamal, who is vaccinated and did not contract COVID-19, first posted a video of Cierra laboriously breathing with an oxygen mask in the hospital on July 30
The couple’s daughter and their 2-year-old son also experienced symptoms, he told the outlet.
‘Cierra thought it was just a cold that had been passed around. She didn’t think it was COVID,’ he told Good Morning America.
‘Later down the line, as Cierra’s symptoms worsened, I had her get tested because of how bad her cough was.’
Jamal said he was able to be there for the birth of his son, who was born healthy – without coronavirus – weighing five pounds, seven ounces.
He recounted the moment he had to take his son home alone without Cierra, calling it ‘the most nerve-wracking drive’ of his life.
‘That was the first time Cierra was not in the car with me when we had a newborn sitting in the backseat, making certain he was okay, so I kept putting my hand back in the car seat to make sure he was okay,’ he said.
A map shows the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic
A chart shows the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States per day in July and August
A chart shows the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States per day since the start of the pandemic
A chart shows the number of coronavirus infections in the United States per day in July and August
A chart shows the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States per day in July and August
A chart shows the daily number of COVID-19 vaccinations in the Untied States
A map shows states in the United States in regard to the percentage of their population that has been vaccinated
Cierra’s condition has somewhat improved but she has remained in a medically-induced coma in critical condition.
Jamal told Good Morning America that ‘it’s been hard’ to plan for his children’s future as a possible ‘single parent’ while knowing that Cierra ‘is very much alive and fighting for her life.’
‘It’s like holding hope with one hand and planning for the future with the other,’ he said. ‘I didn’t sign up to be a single dad. I signed up to build a life with Cierra and my kids together.’
A GoFundMe has been started to help pay for Cierra’s ‘substantial medical expenses’ and has since raised more than $109,200.
There were 1,954 new daily cases reported in South Carolina as of Tuesday, an additional 250 probable cases, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental.
South Carolina has had a total of 527,409 confirmed cases and 118,450 probable cases, according to state data.
There were 11 new deaths reported in South Carolina on Tuesday, while 8,808 have died in total from the virus in the state since the start of the pandemic. The state has also seen an additional 1,184 probable deaths from the coronavirus.
State data shows that 15.5% of new coronavirus tests conducted in the state are coming back positive.
Meanwhile, about 1,944,360 of the state’s residents eligible for vaccination are considered fully vaccinated – or about 45.3%, lagging behind the national average.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted in May that just 16% of pregnant people had been vaccinated. The current percentage of pregnant women who have been vaccinated remains unclear.
The CDC has noted that pregnant women infected with COVID-19 are more likely to face admission to the ICU, ventilation and death than nonpregnant women. No data has identified safety concerns for vaccinated pregnant women or their babies.
Additionally, recent reports have shown that breastmilk from women who have received COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have antibodies that could actually help protect their babies.
Thee American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine released a statement earlier this month recommending that all pregnant women should get vaccinated.