A doctor has shared a powerful video of her four-year-old son struggling to breathe as he battled with coronavirus in hospital.
Neonatal specialist Dr Anna Zimmerman's son Lincoln even told her "this isn't worth it" and said "Mama, I'm not gonna go home" as he struggled.
He was being pumped with 9L of oxygen and fighting with the Covid cough, as she sat desperately by his side.
Anna, who writes the parenting blog Mighty Littles, shared a heartbreaking update as her family faced Covid-19.
She says their family of five locked down earlier and headed the advice after watching what was coming from other counties, and she thought she had "done everything right" but her son still contracted the virus.
Anna's blog reads: "Although no state or federal mandate was in place, we pulled our kids out of Jiujitsu and swimming lessons early, because we believed this virus was dangerous before many people started to take it seriously.
"My kids never went on a playdate.
"I wouldn’t let them go across the street to talk to their neighborhood friends.
"We adopted the stay-at-home recommendations early and stuck to them.
"We did everything right. But Lincoln got sick."
About 10 days after he first developed symptoms he needed to be hospitalised.
She added: "So walking into the hospital, I had one sick 4-year old, two near-empty oxygen tanks, and three bags - one for our clothes, one for his comfort items and snacks and my computer bag. I also had four hours of built-up anxiety rolling around in my head wondering what was going on with my son and why he was quickly getting worse."
He was given blood tests and a covid-19 test, and needed about 2L of oxygen.
But by the next day that was up to 4, then 6L, then finally 9L.
Anna said: "He was working so hard to breathe - using all of the muscles in his chest, abdomen, and neck to help him breathe.
"As a mom, it was torture watching him struggle."
She said he started saying: “Mama, this isn’t worth it.
“Mama, when is this going to stop?”
“Mama, I don’t feel so good.”
"Mama, it is no use." "Mama, I'm not gonna go home."
Lincoln started to make improvements each day and is now done to just 1L of oxygen each day and Anna is hopeful they will soon be dishcarged.
She added: "Please stay safe. Please stay healthy. Please take this virus seriously - it is no joke.
"And please reach out to your friends and neighbors and friends of friends who are struggling through this pandemic."
