Lightning's national anthem singer heads home after spending a month in hospital battling COVID-19

TAMPA, Fla. - After nearly a month at the hospital, Sonya Bryson-Kirksey was discharged Friday morning after she was diagnosed with COVID-19 in July.

Sonya tested positive for the novel coronavirus right after the Tampa Bay Lightning's Stanley Cup celebration. The team's national anthem singer was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia, and to make matters worse, she also has multiple sclerosis. 

During her time in the hospital, she said she felt the outpouring of support from the community.

"Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for everything," she said after leaving the hospital. "Thank you for just loving me, because I think that brought me through."

Sonya said her experience was "pretty bad."

"I wondered if I'm going to be here the next day, but God got us to this point," she explained. "I'm a little tired right now, but I think I'll be better. I'm ready to embark on this journey that to get my lungs back to where it needs to be."

She was fully vaccinated, Sonya believes her stay at the hospital could made the turn for the worse if she wasn't. Sonya was placed in the ICU in late July and was released in early August.

"I know, I feel in my heart that I wouldn't have been here if I hadn't gotten vaccinated," Sonya said. "So get vaccinated, do the right thing."

She is a familiar face during Lightning games and her vocal performance during the national anthem is a tradition before the puck drops at home games. For a few years now, Sonya has been battling multiple sclerosis. There is currently no cure for the disease.

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According to the Mayo Clinic, the immune system for those who have multiple sclerosis attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between the brain and body.

Over the years, Sonya hasn’t been shy about her symptoms. 

"If there is something I can do to help someone else; either talking about it, explaining my experiences or working to raise funds for a greater cause, I'm gonna do it. That's just me," she told FOX 13 in 2019. "Do you what you can while you can because you never know what tomorrow holds."