Coronavirus Update: 102-Year-Old Woman Defies Odds To Beat COVID-19, Doctor Calls Recovery 'Miraculous'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 102-year-old woman who was diagnosed with the coronavirus defied the odds and is now recovering.
At 102 years old, Sophie Avouris, of Yonkers, has seen a lot in her life, entering this world in 1918 at the start of the Spanish flu.
"She survived it, thank goodness," her daughter, Effie Strouthides, said.
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Strouthides says back in March, doctors at a Manhattan nursing home and rehab facility called to tell her Avouris, who was recovering at the facility from hip surgery, tested positive for COVID-19.
"And we were thinking at 102 years old, at high risk, she might not make it," Strouthides said.
Because the facility was on lockdown, Strouthides called her mom to have a conversation that she thought would be the last.
"Once or twice I managed to let her know how much I loved her and she told me how much she loved me," she said.
According to the CDC, 8 out of 10 deaths reported in the U.S. have been adults who are 65 and older.
Dr. Taimur Mirza oversaw Avouris' care and says her prognosis initially was not good.
"Her course in the beginning, it was a little bit rough. For a while there, she required some oxygen, then we started her on the combination of the hydroxychloroquine and the azithromycin," Mirza said.
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After a week of treatment, Avouris started showing signs of improvement. By week three, she no longer had the virus.
"She didn't have the cough anymore, and, you know, it was just miraculous to see a woman of her age recover from this," Mirza said.
Avouris still at the rehab facility, but this fighter has made it through another battle and has another opportunity to be a dancing grandmother who does not let anyone or anything take her down.
