OC woman released from Fountain Valley hospital after nearly fatal battle with COVID-19

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- A 26-year-old woman who battled COVID-19 complications for about seven months at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital has been released from the medical facility.

Wynter Ho nearly died multiple times, according to her doctor. But Friday was the day when she went home.

"Thank you to everyone here so much for everyone who has been here for me," said Ho. "I have gotten a second chance at life. I look at life way differently now."

The Garden Grove resident said she now has a different perspective when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine. Ho said she caught COVID in July, wasn't vaccinated and ended up in the intensive care unit.

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"I developed pneumonia really quickly. From there, my lungs collapsed. I couldn't breathe. I started turning blue," said Ho. "This pandemic has been very terrible and very sad. I have seen people pass away many, many times in hospital."

Doctors said Ho faced many setbacks throughout her challenging journey and came close to death multiple times.

"Just with COVID, unfortunately, her lungs were quite damaged. It was very difficult even using the ventilator," said Dr. Hoang Le, one of Ho's physicians. "It was definitely not once, not twice, but multiple times that is was very challenging to kind of get her out of that dark hole."

Ho said she didn't get vaccinated because she felt healthy and didn't have any underlying health conditions. The first thing she did after she left the hospital was get a COVID-19 vaccination shot.

"Even though I was really sad at moments when I felt wasn't going to make it, it's made me a stronger person today," said Ho. "I feel I was meant to catch it -- to relay the message that young people my age need to get vaccinated."

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