SARASOTA, Fla. — A 90-year-old Sarasota woman who tested positive for coronavirus has beat the virus.
Trudi Caruso had a fever for several weeks when her family took her to Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
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"She had a fever for a couple of weeks and we were giving her Tylenol or her husband would give her Tylenol and the fever would go away," said her daughter Elizabeth Martin-Sullivan.
According to her family, Caruso was admitted to the hospital on March 29.
She remains isolated and was in an intensive care unit. She had pneumonia and needed a respirator.
"She had a 105 temperature, pneumonia and COVID-19," Martin-Sullivan said.
Martin-Sullivan said her mom cannot have any visitors, but the hospital staff gives her updates.
"It's like being in jail as she stated because you're in this little room and you can't leave. I understand why she feels the way she does. The nurses are being so patient," she said.
Martin-Sullivan said her mother has been hospitalized for nearly a month. Doctors believe she beat the virus.
Caruso is expected to go home soon.
"They say that she's well. She's good," Martin-Sullivan said.
Martin-Sullivan said her mother has always been tough. Her mom grew up during World War II.
"She grew up in Czechoslovakia and then when she was 15 or so the Russians came, World War II came. They took their home. They kicked them out and they had to walk from Czechoslovakia to Vienna, Austria," Martin-Sullivan said.
Her mother loves the beach, shopping, concerts and the opera.
"She's a person who adored going out, taking walks on the beach, going shopping and she kept herself active and what woman doesn't like shopping," said Martin-Sullivan.
She said her mother is ready to go home. She wants to celebrate her 91st birthday in July.
"We have a very strong family and we're very supportive to each other and if one falls, we're always there to pick them up and be there for them," she said.
Martin-Sullivan does not know how her mother contracted the virus.
She urges people to follow CDC guidelines and help protect the older population.
"They are your parents, they are your grandparents. They are the ones who raised you and loved you. You don't forget about them. You need to be there for them," she added.