SAN DIEGO — A little girl from San Marcos is making a remarkable recovery. Two-year-old Addy Smith was born premature in 2019 and after more than two years in the hospital she is finally home.
This is a follow-up to a story CBS 8 brought you last year during a Red Shoe campaign benefiting the Ronald McDonald house.
After 848 days in the hospital since birth little Addy is finally going home and she had a parade a support around her. As the crowd quietly claps careful not to overwhelm her, she waves to her supporters.
Addy was born three months early and had been in the hospital since December 10, 2019, 848 days ago.
“Oh my gosh, this is so surreal right now. This is only her second time outside now,” said Aliesha Smith, Addy’s mother.
This is her first time being together as a family of four with her baby brother Aiden who was born in September.
“It's really everything to be able to have them both home together, under one roof is everything,” said Smith.
Addy has had two surgeries and many health setbacks while being treated at Rady Children's Hospital for a chronic lung disease.
“We spent a year not knowing if she was as going to make it the next day. We lived every day with her,” said Smith.
Her parents Chris and Aliesha Smith from San Marcos, never left her side, staying at the Ronald McDonald house for an entire year.
“She is like no other human I know,” said Chris. “She is so strong and so resilient."
Like the shirts her supporters wear that say, “I believe in miracles, her name is Addy,” the young girl has done the unthinkable.
“She just has a way of keeping us on our toes,” said Warner Kurn, Addy’s grandfather.
Rady’s says Addy was the longest stay of any patient and they've ever treated a case like hers.
“She is fighting and smiling, and we weren't sure we would ever see that,” said Dr. Jeanne Carroll, Addy’s Neonatologist.
Addy's family has immense gratitude for her medical team but believe it was Addy who pushed them to never stop fighting for her.
“We will be there and love on her and support her and giving up was never an option,” said Chris Smith.
Add will have a lifetime of treatment ahead of her but today is a huge step for her and her family. She will have many firsts such as her first car ride, her first time feeling the wind, first time home and first time in her own bed.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego children join global effort to show love for Ukraine (March 2022)