A model who had both legs amputated after she suffered serious complications following being infected with Covid-19 has been released days before her birthday.
After spending nearly exactly two months in hospital, Claire Bridges was finally discharged and sent home with her family in Tampa, Florida
Despite being fully vaccinated, Bridges was admitted to hospital on January 16 after testing positive to coronavirus.
On admission, she was diagnosed with Covid-19 myocarditis, cyanotic, acidosis, rhabdomyolysis and mild pneumonia.
Blood flow was restricted to her legs and the damage was serious enough that doctors decided they had no choice but to amputate.
Since the loss of her legs, Bridges has been documenting her recovery on social media, sharing the first time she sat up in over a month and telling her followers that she'll be 'walking in no time'.
"I'm doing good," she said.
"I have occupational therapy, physical therapy and at home nursing now multiple times a week and I'm getting up and moving a lot more.
She added that she's getting the 'stitches out of [her] nubs next week'
Bridges' father Wayne told Newsweek he was thrilled that his daughter was able to be home in time for her 21st birthday last weekend.
"She is very happy to be home around family and friends. We had a cookout for her on Saturday, which was her birthday," he said.
"It's been mentally, emotionally taxing but we're hopeful now. She is still facing more challenges but we are focused on today having her home.
"She's having ongoing rehab with physical and occupational therapy, and healing of her legs to start getting ready for prosthetics."
Bridges' father says the fighting spirit his daughter has displayed in the past two months means that anything is possible.
"I am so proud of you and inspired by you," he wrote in a recent Facebook post. "You have overcome more in two months than any of us could imagine in a lifetime.
Then he added a message to his daughter, an avid rock climber: "You will be climbing again before you know it."
A GoFundMe campaign to help with Bridges' medical care has so far reached nearly $40,000 of its $100,000 target.
Rachel Lang