APOPKA, Fla. — After living in China for the past four years, the threat of coronavirus exposure suddenly changed plans for one Apopka family.

“Everything you really need goes into the bag. We ended up bringing 10 bags with us," Candace Hendrick said. "We were probably an interesting sight in all the airports we went through."

The Hendrick family had moved to Wenzhou for an opportunity: Candace's husband, Joel, got a job teaching at an American university there. Meanwhile, she got a job at a preschool. Their girls — 9-year-old Annabel, 7-year-old Ilamae, and 4-year-old Eleanor — could go to school for free.

“I wanted to experience a culture, wanted to see how people live," Candace Hendrick said.

English apps helped the family to better assimilate in the large city. They took advantage of share bikes, zipping to grocery stores or the many markets around town. Soon, the three girls were making friends and learning the language.

But according to Candace, all of that changed in January, when the school at which she taught shut down.

Though it was a few hours away from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, Wenzhou went into lockdown mode. Roads closed, and curfews were instituted.

“We were told that one household member was allowed to leave every two days," she said. "And it had to be the same person every two days. The kids weren’t allowed to play outside. My family back home kept saying things, like, 'You OK? Are you healthy?' I’m like, 'We’re fine.'"

Although the family never became ill, concerns began to mount. During a trip to Shanghai to see Hendrick's English-speaking doctor, they noticed the city nearly deserted. Trains were canceled on their return, forcing them to fly instead.

“Mostly it was eerie ... You felt like (you were in) an apocalypse movie," she described.

Hendrick worried she wouldn’t make it to the hospital or what would happen if she contracted the virus while pregnant. After all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still does not have much data on outcomes for pregnant women.

So when the school offered to fly the family home, they packed up in about a day and left a lot behind — including most of their items for baby Matilda.

Back in Central Florida, a family friend posted an urgent appeal to a moms group online. Soon, donations poured in, including bikes from a church in Eustis, to clothes from the moms.

“It just warms my heart and you feel special, (to know) that people care, even if they don’t know you," Hendrick said. “I love when women can come together, mothers can come together."

And for the family, much came together just in time.

“The baby’s due on Saturday, so that’s good. So we don’t have to put the baby in a box or drawer," she said with a chuckle.