FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. -- At the end of October, a Fort St. John’s mother almost died from COVID-19.

However, Krystal St. Pierre is back home with her family for the holidays. The pregnant mother refused to get vaccinated and her health deteriorated quickly after contracting the virus.

She was flown to Vancouver Island, then to new Westminster while in an induced coma and placed on life support. Doctors performed an emergency C-section to give her a better chance of surviving, which at the time was only 10%. St. Pierre was the first COVID patient in Canada to give birth while on an ECMO machine. She has now returned home to Fort St. John with her baby, who is developing well.

Dwayne Binette, Krystal’s husband, says ‘It’s been a whirlwind and we still have a lot of hurdles ahead, so we’re focusing on that.’