NBC News correspondent Janis Mackey Frayer reunited Wednesday with her young son after 49 days apart — including a full 14-day quarantine — and the emotional video was shared far and wide.
“With work travel, restrictions and quarantine in #China, our family was apart for 49 days,” the China-based journalist wrote on Twitter. “And yes, every one of them was hard — the worry, the decisions, the failed plans, isolation. Our little guy has been brave and resilient… and this was easily the best. hug. ever.”
In the clip she posted, her young son stands outside a fence squealing with excitement to see her as she runs down a driveway wearing, of course, a protective mask. She rushes past workers in full protective gear to crouch down and grab the child in an extended embrace. In a later tweet, she thanks her husband, photojournalist Kevin Frayer, for capturing the entire moment, as well as “the many days and weeks leading up to it,” for her.
When airing the moment on NBC Nightly News later in the day, Lester Holt told viewers it had “touched so many people” within the company.
“Janis has been on the front lines of covering the coronavirus crisis in China and Japan and the U.K. Now, back in China and after a 14-day self-quarantine, she is back with her family and we want to thank her and thanks to all of our correspondents and producers and crews who are working so hard away from their families to bring this global story to you and your families. To Janis, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Holt explained.
Watch the touching video above.