OMAHA, Neb. —

A Nebraska family is urging people to get the flu shot as their daughter continues to fight for her life after getting the virus two years ago.

The young mother has been unresponsive and is now in long-term care.

Her family said it all started with a flu diagnosis.

This family said their daughter's life may have been different if she'd have gotten her flu shot.

“She got her CT scan yesterday. So, it's not worse, but it's not better,” said Vicky Bookout, Crystal’s mom.

Hospital beds have been the reality for Crystal Velasquez after a flu diagnosis two years ago.

“Crystal is at Madonna now. And she was on a vent, but now she's on the extended care. Where she'll be, I mean, the rest of her life,” Bookout said.

Now 38, her family said she's been in a mostly unresponsive state since 2019.

“It's even hard to go up there and see her but then it's harder to leave her,” Bookout said.

She's made some small improvements, they said.

“She laughs and she smiles now. And she didn't do that on the vent unit. But she's doing it now,” Bookout said.

But her life is vastly different than it was before.

A Seahawks football fan, lover of music and giving soul, Velasquez's family says she started to feel sick in early December 2019.

After getting medication for her influenza diagnosis, they say she was sent home.

Then, they say she went back for a chest X-ray, which revealed pneumonia, but was again sent home.

“She came by the house and said she couldn't breathe. And she was coughing. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't do anything,” Bookout said.

Her mom said she was rushed to the hospital and intubated. That shock to her body caused her to have a stroke.

Those moments would be some of the last her mom would have with her while conscious.

“She did tell me she didn't want to die because she just had a bad feeling that something was wrong,” Bookout said.

"You don’t ever think this is going to happen to your child, especially from the flu.”

Bookout said the recovery has been hard and she believes the flu shot could have helped.

They hope their daughter will continue to improve and want others to take every virus seriously and get vaccinated.

“I know people that don't believe in those shots, the flu shots, and that's up to them. And I have nothing against him for that. But I know it's not going to stop me,” Bookout said.

Andrea Arriaga Borges tested positive for COVID-19 on May 19, 2021. The mother of five said she had no underlying health issues, does not have asthma and does not smoke.

Six days later, she asked her husband to call 911 when she couldn't breathe or walk.

The last thing she remembers is talking to family before being intubated at the hospital.

"That's all I remember," she said. "And then I was in a coma for two months."

Borges had to undergo multiple blood transfusions and a tracheotomy, lost her motor skills and had to re-learn how to walk.

She missed one of her daughter's high school graduations.

"The doctors told my kids and my husband I wasn't going to make it," she said, with tears in her eyes.

After four months in multiple hospitals, she said her doctors were shocked by her recovery and ability to be sent home.

Borges was not vaccinated when she tested positive for COVID-19.

"I was against the vaccine," she said. "After going through what I went through, I don't wish that upon anybody."

She is now fully vaccinated against the virus.

Her four-month battle inspired her husband, children and her friends to get the vaccine as well.

"We would never think it would happen to us," Debeie York, Borges' best friend said. "You hear about other people and until it hits close to home, that's when it really sounds the alarm. You go, 'Oh, this is real.'"

Borges believes it is a miracle that she will be home with her family for her holidays.

She encourages anyone who is unsure or against the vaccine to educate themselves and talk to their doctors.

"For my own sanity and peace of mind, it just made me feel better to know that at least there's a layer of protection," she said. "I hope that whoever's watching this that is young and healthy, it's not that it won't even happen to you, because it could."

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CINCINNATI — An 8-year-old boy who was shot in the head in East Westwood June 12 is now out of a coma and breathing on his own, according to his mother.

Marcellus Whitehead, who goes by MJ, was walking to a nearby store with his big brother when he was struck. He’s been in the ICU ever since. His mother, Marcella Thompson, said he’s improving slowly, but steadily.

“It’s better than before,” she said. “I’ll tell you that. Every little thing that improves is working toward progress. That’s all that matters to me. From ‘he’s not going to make it through the night’ to where I’m at today, I’m happy with that.”

The incident which resulted in Marcellus’ injury happened in broad daylight outside of a convenience store.

“People don’t think before they act, you know?” Thompson said. “They don’t think about other people, or their families. Any of that. It’s frustrating to see this senseless stuff going on.”

She said MJ was taken off of a ventilator after 60 days. He’s alert and breathing on his own. He’s currently fighting off fluid on the brain, but he’s been able to move his arms and legs.

“He’s definitely a fighter,” Thompson said. “He’s got a lot of fight in him.”

East Westwood Community Council president Rodney Christian gathers kids of all ages to try and reverse a trend.

“Don’t waste opportunities to talk to kids,” he said. “They’re here for basketball and that hoop, but you can also take that and use it as bait. Put it on a hook and reel it in to talk about something else.”

The Third Presbyterian Church operates a rec center with basketball courts every weekday from 3:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. to give area kids something constructive to do with their time.

“We have to fight for MJ right now,” Christian said. “Out here. On making a change.”

Her life changed in an instant – and now Marcella Thompson said she tries to focus on the positive.

“I tell him (MJ) every day how strong he is,” she said. “I think that gets him through it. I think me seeing how strong he is gets me through it. I have a lot of faith and a lot of hope.”

Three days after the shooting, Darius Harris Jr., 19, was charged with four counts of felonious assault for firing the shots that injured Whitehead and three others. He is currently being held in the Hamilton County Jail and is awaiting trial.