DENVER (KDVR) – Parents Nina and Derek Beck are hoping their two-and-a-half-year-old, Emilia, will help save lives.

Emilia’s entire family got COVID-19. Emilia, the littlest member of the family, hardly had symptoms — until a few weeks later.

“One night we were both putting her down for bed and we kissed her goodnight and noticed she was super hot,” Nina said.

Emilia’s symptoms only got worse.

“Her lips were just cracking and she had a rash covering her entire body. She could not stay awake for more than five minutes,” Nina said.

Emilia was admitted to Children’s Hospital Colorado with a diagnoses the Becks knew almost nothing about. MIS-C is an infection some kids are developing after having COVID-19.

“About 50% of our kids will have pretty significant cardiac involvement, and by that, I mean they’ll have low blood pressure or evidence of their heart not working quite right,” said Dr. Sam Dominguez of Children’s Hospital of Colorado.

Little Emilia was one of that 50%.

“Especially when we heard it was her heart, that’s when it got even more terrifying,” Derek said.

After three hospital stays, Nina and Derek’s baby girl is back to her old self. But she’ll be spending the next five years undergoing routine tests to help doctors figure out how and why some kids get it and if there are any long-term complications.

“The plan is to follow (kids) sequentially for the next five years and, primarily with cardiology, to look for cardiology complications,” Dominguez said.

Emilia’s parents say their child getting and recovering from MIS-C is a lottery they didn’t want to win, but they are now hoping it can make a difference.

“I think for us participating in this study is yeah to get the word out and hopefully help other families from going through it,” Nina said.