JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The controversial child abuse pediatrician at the center of a First Coast News investigation, Dr. Barbara Knox, has officially resigned from the University of Florida. That’s according to the separation agreement, ending her employment August 15.

Now, the Georgia mother whose case first put Knox on our radar is speaking publicly for the first time since she and her husband regained custody of their three young children.

“I’m very grateful to be home,” Diana Sullivan said. “I would never have made it through this without my faith. God has truly been my rock.”

For 19 months, Sullivan was only allowed to see her children under supervision after a visit to a Jacksonville emergency room for her infant daughter’s swollen leg triggered a child abuse investigation.

“For our story, what I feel like stands out the most is our children are born through IVF… these children were very much wanted and prayed for,” she said.

Doctors, including Knox, then head of the First Coast Child Protection Team, concluded her baby’s fractures were from abuse.

When asked what role Knox played in the removal of her children, Sullivan replied: “A very large role…She was a driving force behind the accusations, making everything sound much more egregious than it was.”

From Wisconsin to Alaska to Florida, families have disputed Knox’s findings.

“I will say without a shadow of a doubt my child was not abused,” Sullivan said.

“They can’t just keep handing her a medical license without acknowledging what happened in the previous positions,” she continued. “She took milestones from me that I will never get back. She took a breastfeeding mom away from her newborn babies.”

Sullivan says her daughter’s injuries were caused by a medical condition that was undiagnosed at the time. The Department of Children and Families initially sought to terminate her parental rights. A judge later ruled it was in the children’s best interest to return to their parents.

“This will be a trauma for my entire family that time and God can only probably heal,” Sullivan said.

Knox’s resignation comes seven months after nine members of the Child Protection Team called for her removal, citing a toxic work environment and concerns over her handling of abuse cases.

Sullivan says she remembers the moment she learned Knox had signed her separation agreement.

“It was a mixture of happy tears at first, just relief that other families aren’t going to have to encounter that and then…the what if — what if she would have resigned before? Why did we have to encounter her? It was a range of emotions because I know if she had not come into the picture it would not have ended up the way it did,” Sullivan said.

She now hopes Florida’s medical board will fully investigate Knox before she treats other families.

“These children are being removed from loving homes and innocent families going through the worst trauma of their lives,” she said. “And to think about families that don’t have the financial means to fight for their kids and just have to give up — it has to stop somewhere. Someone has to stop being scared.”

Sullivan says she will not stop speaking out.

“I will always fight for answers,” she said. “There’s no way I will be able to know this world exists now and other families could be going through this. If I could do anything to advocate and make a change, I will be doing it.”

First Coast News has repeatedly reached out to Dr. Barbara Knox for comment. She has not responded.

You can read more about Knox’s separation agreement with the University of Florida here.

READ MORE: Georgia couple fighting to regain custody, believes medical condition was misdiagnosed as child abuse

READ MORE: Georgia couple fighting to regain custody, believes medical condition was misdiagnosed as child abuse

READ MORE: Reunification plan ordered for GA couple who says medical condition was mistaken for child abuse

READ MORE: 19 months later, Georgia parents regain custody of kids after they say medical condition mistaken for abuse

READ MORE: ‘We are in the middle of being bullied’: 9 members of Child Protection Team call for end of ‘toxic’ work environment