coronavirus connecticut

Coronavirus News: Immigrant family that battled COVID-19 reunited after receiving support of community

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Immigrant family battling COVID-19 reunited at last thanks to community

Lauren Glassberg talks with a family of immigrants, seeking asylum from Guatemala, that just met their newborn after beating COVID-19.

STAMFORD, Connecticut (WABC) -- A community has come together for a family during tough times and after spending six weeks apart, the family is now together again.

Zully became so sick with COVID-19 that she was put in a medically induced coma and delivered her baby five weeks early by emergency C-section.

But not only was she sick, her husband Marvin and their 7-year-old son Junior were ill too - so Junior's 1st-grade teacher Luciana Lira and her family stepped in to care for the newborn.

"When we got to Luciana's house her family was there and I was very emotional that she was going to give me my baby," Zully said. "In that moment I felt happy and grateful."

Not only did Lira jump in to help, so did other Stamford neighbors and organizations such as Building One Community.

"There were so many moving pieces and the beautiful thing about this story is how the entire community came together," said Catalina Horack with Building One Community.

On the very same day Zully was hospitalized, the family had actually moved into a new apartment and they didn't even have electricity yet.

So they needed help with that and getting the internet going so Junior could do online schooling. They also needed food and meals while they quarantined.

"It was an immigrant family who needed the community to rally behind them and everybody did...that's what Stamford did," Horack said.

"We're emotional, we are glad we won the battle and we're healthy, we're very grateful," Marvin said.

The family is Guatemalan and they are here seeking asylum -- and what neighbors in Stamford did for them certainly reflects a community with arms wide open.

"They are great people, I thank God and I hope he blesses them always," Zully said.