Honoring Covid Victims and Their Families

Image courtesy of Sandy Millar via Unsplash

Many people have fallen victim to this murderous virus. So, my family and I wanted to take a moment today to honor those of you who have lost a loved one because of Covid. If you have a family member who is currently suffering from the complications of this virus, we honor you as well. Our prayers are with all of you - parents, spouses, children, siblings, other family members, and friends - who have that void in your heart that will never be filled. I hope the following Bible verse from Matthew 5:4 will encourage you: "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." 

This past week, we buried my brother after he suffered for over a month - more than 30 days - with Covid and other complications following the onset and hospitalization. This would perhaps make more sense if this had happened earlier in the pandemic when little was known about this killer virus. However, more than two years into this, we know better than to go into public places when we have this sickness that has the ability to end someone's life even if we, ourselves, aren't feeling ill. Yet, someone who had Covid walked into my brother's place of employment and infected everyone there. Now, my brother is dead because of this.

Remember, all it takes is one selfish, inconsiderate moment for someone to become a suffering victim. Or you can think of it this way: you can save a life if you stay home while you're contagious. Speaking for all the families of the dead and suffering victims, we're begging you to please stay home until you're no longer contagious. We know this won't bring back or heal our loved ones. But that's the only way to stop this virus from murdering more innocent people. 

This morning, I want to paint a picture of human suffering for you so maybe you'll strongly consider not leaving your house if you have tested positive for Covid. First of all, if you aren't aware, the victims who die from their complications suffer horribly. In my brother's case, as I'm sure in most other cases as well, he was smothering nearly the entire time. He was hospitalized with pneumonia caused by Covid. Shortly after being hospitalized, one of his lungs collapsed. His oxygen level then dropped to 50%, so he had to have 100% oxygen pumped into his lungs. The oxygen was escaping his lungs inside his body, so breathing was still difficult.

The doctors would allow him to have anything he wanted to eat. But he was unable to eat because he couldn't breathe without the oxygen mask. So, he had to have a feeding tube inserted. Of course, MRSA came on soon after. For several days, he ran a fever of 102. He slowly drifted into semiconsciousness. Eventually, the doctors put him into a medically-induced coma to relieve some of his suffering, which we can only pray allowed him to rest more easily. 

His temperature finally came down to normal. From time to time, the fever would spike again, but the temperature would again return to normal. They reduced his oxygen to try to wean him off of it. This all sounded like good news, so we were hopeful.

After a while, they had to stop giving him the paralytic medicine (that induced the coma) so he wouldn't suffer from permanent nerve damage. They called my sister-in-law and told her he would be able to hear her now that they had taken him off of the medication, so she could video chat with him again. She said his muscles would twitch in his neck and she could see his eyes moving under his eyelids when she would talk to him. His color even improved. More hope. 

However, after a few, brief days of hope, he never regained consciousness. So, my mother called to tell me my brother was dying. Before my husband, son, and I could get to my parent's house, Mom received the phone call that he had died. My sister-in-law was with him to wipe the last two tears from his eyes as he quietly passed away. 

This is not the story of just one person. This is the story of all the thousands and thousands and thousands who have perished because of careless and thoughtless actions of those who didn't want to quarantine, who thought they wouldn't infect others because they, themselves, had mild or no symptoms, or who were bored staying at home for so long. There's no reason for people to continue dying from this virus. You can have food and groceries delivered. Take a walk in your own yard safely distanced from neighbors. Just stay home until you are no longer infectious.

All family members of these suffering victims are left only with their deep thoughts and questions. Was my loved one hungry? Was my loved one aware that they were dying? Did my loved one want to say something? Was that why he or she was shedding those tears? Did they want to say one last "I love you"? Or were those tears of joy as they crossed over to eternity and were being welcomed by our Savior Jesus Christ and loved ones who had passed away before them? 

We won't know the answers to our questions until we reunite with our loved ones in the afterlife. But we can protect others from these painful and nagging questions if we protect their loved ones by staying home when we're sick. I know we all have to die sometime. And there will still be pain when that happens. But let's let people keep their loved ones longer by not spreading this deadly virus anymore. We can end the sorrow, pain, and suffering associated with this. We can. So, let's start today. If you agree with this post, please share it with others. May God bless you and keep you safe.