pull through — recover from a serious illness or difficult situation

phrasal verbB2IELTS 5+neutralcommon

to get better after being very sick or to succeed in a very hard situation

Say it like a native

Textbook The physicians are optimistic that she will recover from her illness.

Native The doctors think she'll pull through.

'Pull through' is the natural verb for recovering from serious illness; the formal version is clinical.

Pattern: pull through (something)

After weeks in the hospital, she finally pulled through and went home.health
My friend was very sick last year, but with the support of his family, he managed to pull through.IELTS speaking

✗ He pulled through from the surgery.

✓ He pulled through after the surgery. / He pulled through.

'Pull through' is usually used alone — not 'pull through from'.

pull through + recovery — after surgery, somehow, against the odds, in the end

Don't confuse with 'get over', which is often used for less serious problems.