‘She’s never seen outside’: Child in Lurie Children’s NICU for more than 500 days gets to come home

CHICAGO (CBS) — A story more than 500 days in the making.

A mother has been waiting that long to bring her baby girl Autumn home from the NICU. CBS 2’s Sabrina Franza was there for this emotional celebration and has more on how the hospital staff and family worked together to make it happen.

Into the elevator, past the escalator and through the revolving door, more than 500 days later, baby Autumn finally took her first breath of fresh air.

“She’s never seen outside. And literally, she felt the wind. She started sneezing you know normal kids stuff that we take for granted. like her seeing the sun seeing other people.”

Seeing the sun — and doing it in style.

Born prematurely on March 11th of last year, at one pound one ounce, Autumn has been in the NICU and PICU her entire life.

“She doesn’t know this life. She only knows life inside the hospital.”

On Thursday, she left Lurie Children’s Hospital with a standing ovation — and a ventilator.

“She had been having worsening problems with her breathing and also had something called pulmonary hypertension when the heart has to function with a lot of stress and strain the blood doesn’t pump through the lungs very well,” said Doctor Megan Lagoski, Director of the BPD Program at Lurie Children’s Hospital.

For mom Tyler Robinson, Wednesday was a dream come true.

“I’m just so thankful to be able to walk out with my baby.”

If you ask mom Taylor if she considers herself a hero, shell tell you absolutely not. That the healthcare workers that got her daughter out of the hospital are the real heroes.

“They’ve seen me cry, laugh, they listened to me scream and yell,” Robinson said. “They’ve been my family since I’ve been here and they’ve been my family because they love my baby.”

Outside the hospital, it’s a sweet goodbye — but it’s a homecoming — that’s been a long time coming.