JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas  –   A Marine Corps spouse and mother of five was 28 weeks pregnant when she caught a “mild case” of COVID-19 in June 2021.

Ashley Savidge Hernandez felt tired but wasn’t too concerned until she began to have trouble catching her breath. Alarmed for their baby, retired U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hernandez drove his wife to Brooke Army Medical Center’s emergency room just to be safe.

Ashley had no idea she and her baby were about to embark on a month-long battle for their survival.

“It all seems surreal to me now,” she said on a phone interview, her voice still raspy from the ventilator. “I had no idea at the time how dire the situation was for me and my baby.”

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