To the editor:
On Aug. 20, 2021, Karl and I watched as my father died in the hospital from COVID-19.
I feel compelled to share my story. My dad believed all the lies against getting the vaccine and taking COVID seriously, and heeded the advice from others who claimed to have had adverse reactions from the vaccine.
My parents left Nikiski, Alaska, where they lived, relatively sheltered from COVID cases. They flew to Arizona, picked up their RV in storage and rendezvoused with my younger sister’s family in Montana in celebration of her daughter’s wedding.
It was there that they caught COVID. Somehow they were able to drive their RV back to Arizona.
We first heard of their situation on July 27. Karl and I called 911 on their behalf the next morning and by July 30, drove to Arizona to advocate for their recovery after they were immediately hospitalized.
Mom kicked COVID with no lung issues. However, she is fighting long-term delirium and brain fog.
My dad, on the other hand, had underlying comorbidity issues and never recovered from the COVID-induced pneumonia.
We watched through a window as he slowly suffocated. Each word that he spoke over his cell phone to us took enormous effort. Originally a “do not resuscitate,” he succumbed to intubation.
Within four days he was dead, exactly a month from his 81st birthday.
I am writing this to share my family’s tragic experience and to beg and plead with you that if you or someone you love has not been vaccinated, please get a COVID shot. It may save your life or the life of someone you know or don’t know.
Why this pandemic became a political statement and an exercise in personal rights is unfathomable to me.
With a heavy heart, I ask that you please save a life, if not your own.