A Florida mother is grieving both her son and daughter after losing them to COVID-19 within 11 days of each other.
After a family trip to Orlando, Monete Hicks’ son Byron Francis and daughter Mychaela Francis fell ill. Though they both had health issues, she told CNN, they were fine and “basically homebound.”
One Saturday in late June, Byron Francis, 20, woke up struggling to breathe. Later that day, after being rushed to Florida Medical Center and going into cardiac arrest due to oxygen loss, he died, per WPLG-TV.
“We called the paramedics and the paramedics came by. They rushed him down. They said it was just a matter of time because he was losing so much oxygen,” Hicks told the broadcast station. “He just went into cardiac arrest and he slipped away.”
Days later, Mychaela Francis, 23, went into the hospital with a headache and fever. One minute she was fine, her mom said, and the next her organs were failing.
“She lost a kidney, her liver began to fail,” Hicks told CNN. “And it just went one after another, one after another.”
The kids’ cousin, Darisha Scott, described Byron Francis as a passionate gamer and the “goofball of the family.” Mychaela Francis, she said, “could light up a room” with her smile.
“We never thought in a million years that a virus would come and take out two of our loved ones within 11 days,” Scott told WPLG-TV. “It’s not a game. Please wear your mask.”
Hicks doesn’t know how her children contracted the virus, but said they struggled with asthma and high body weights. Though both factors do not contribute to contracting COVID-19, they can complicate symptoms, Obesity Canada says.
“Nobody should have to feel the pain,” Scott said. “My auntie shouldn’t have to feel this pain.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help with funeral costs. So far, it’s raised more than US$11,300 of the $20,000 goal.
“They were both amazing young adults,” the page reads. “With your help, we can give them a beautiful funeral.”
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