Saela, at just 17, nearly died from COVID-19 last month.
The year 11 student is from Broadmeadows, a suburb of Hume in the city's north-west which, at 3,244 cases has the highest numbers in Victoria.
Unfortunately, Saela said, when she caught the virus, she was not yet eligible for the vaccine.
"In late August, my family got COVID from my baby sister's daycare," she said.
Then Saela had a relapse.
"My coughing fits lasted longer … and I struggled to breathe," she said.
"We had to call the ambulance … I said goodbye to my family. I was so scared and lonely."
The teenager and her mother, Michelle, spoke at Wednesday's COVID-19 press conference, urging Victorians to get vaccinated.
'I wasn't fully awake, and I was hallucinating'
Saela was taken to the Box Hill Hospital.
"Then, one night, I couldn't stop coughing. I was struggling to breathe," she said.
"There was a commotion around me. I didn't know what was going on.
The 17-year-old said she was the youngest person in the state to be put on a ventilator at the time.
Nine days later, Saela woke up.
"I wasn't fully awake, and I was hallucinating. I had a tube coming out of my neck," she said.
"I couldn't move. I couldn't talk. I was scared to sleep again. I just stared at the ceiling, and I was alone.
"There was so [many] machines around me, so many wires and needles, so much beeping, and everything made me scared. I was broken. None of this was fair."
Saela's mother, Michelle, said she could not believe how quickly her daughter had gone from being in school to being in a coma.
"When I got the call from the doctor to say that Saela's health had deteriorated so rapidly and she was getting transferred to ICU and put on a ventilator, I was in shock," Michelle said.
The next 24 to 48 hours were critical.
"It was hour by hour. Her lungs had filled with so much fluid, and there was little [room] for her to breathe," Michelle said.
"She needed a lot of help from the ventilator, and I wished that she had been vaccinated. But it was too late. She was already in ICU."
Michelle said, barring her daughter and older son, the rest of the family were either fully or partially vaccinated.
"COVID, without the protection of the vaccine, had done this to her," Michelle said.
"There was no other reason she was in ICU."
Michelle implored other families to get vaccinated.
"Please consider the vaccine."
Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said of the 705 Victorians in hospital on Tuesday, 91 per cent were not fully vaccinated.
He said of those in ICU, "the most unwell patients", 98 per cent were not fully vaccinated.
Michelle said she knew her daughter would probably get trolled for pushing the vaccine.
"We're not actors. This is not a script … it's our story," Michelle said.
"[Saela] wanted to share her story. She wasn't forced. I admire her bravery.
The long road to recovery
With each passing day, Saela slowly got better.
"I had to learn to walk again," she said.
"I cried every day, but I worked very hard on my recovery so I could be home for the AFL grand final, which I was."
Saela said she was living with the scars, both mental and physical.
"I don't know the lasting effects COVID will have on me. I'm still recovering," she said.
Saela urged youngsters to get vaccinated.
"I don't want anyone my age to have to lie in a hospital bed and tell their family they're sorry they did not get vaccinated in time," she said.
"There are a lot of people my age who think they're invincible and don't need the vaccine.
"But COVID almost killed me."
Saela said she was thankful to the team at Box Hill Hospital for being so "amazing".
"I spent nearly a month in the hospital, and 15 of those days was in ICU," she said.
