She lost her mother and grandfather to COVID

Brut America

"Then I'll look for you in heaven..."  First her grandfather died of COVID, then her mother. Lindsay Wootton shares her harrowing story...

Transcript

00:00The doctor told me that my mom wouldn't survive COVID.

00:07He told me that her lungs had become so severely scarred

00:14that they could no longer expand to take in oxygen.

00:20So I walked in the room and I shook my head at her

00:23and she knew something was wrong and she asked what was going on.

00:26And I told her, I said, Mom, you're not going to live.

00:33So we took a few minutes, we cried together, I held her hand

00:37and she asked me to call my dad and tell my dad as well.

00:41So we did.

00:43And about 20 minutes later, I got a phone call from my aunt

00:47that my grandpa was dying.

00:49So my mom and I called my grandpa and I put him on speakerphone

00:58so she and I could say our last goodbyes.

01:01And he spoke to my mom and he said, Kiddo, I'm not doing good.

01:07And she said, Dad, I'm not either.

01:09And he said, Trey, I'm dying.

01:11And she said, Dad, I am too.

01:14And he said, Then I'll look for you in heaven.

01:16And that was their final goodbye.

01:18And within an hour, my grandpa had died.

01:24My mom continued her fight for another 18 days before she passed.

01:49I've seen the devastating effects.

01:53I've witnessed firsthand in the hospital spending 18 days with my mom.

01:59Just how painful the amount of suffering that she went through

02:05just for the glimmer of hope that she would live, that she would survive.

02:11I watched my best friend cry in pain.

02:16I watched my mom gasp for every breath that she took.

02:28I watched my mom have to say goodbye to her dad.

02:34And my dad have to say goodbye to his wife.

02:39I held my mom's hand as she took her final breath.

02:46My grandpa was gentle and sweet.

02:51He was the hardest working person that I have ever got to know.

02:57There was not a day that went by that he wasn't out working on cars

03:04or building something or helping anybody.

03:08Since my mom was sent home from seeing my dad, the scratchy throat continued.

03:13And for a while, she just kept saying,

03:16you know, I've always heard my dad say,

03:19I'm not going to be able to get my dad back.

03:22And I was like, I can't believe that.

03:25And I was like, I can't believe that.

03:28And I just kept saying, you know, I'm not going to be able to get my dad back.

03:32And I just kept saying, you know, I'm not going to be able to get my dad back.

03:35And for a while, she just kept saying, you know,

03:38I've always heard COVID could be really bad.

03:40It just really isn't that bad.

03:42It's just, you know, a scratchy or sore throat, maybe a little bit of a cough.

03:46Over the course of a week, my mom continued to get worse and worse.

03:53It got to a point where my mom also couldn't breathe.

04:06My dad is only 61 years old.

04:09He was a college softball coach.

04:11He was in wonderful shape and could keep up with the college girls.

04:15And now he has to use a walker to get around.

04:18He uses continual flow oxygen day and night.

04:23So not only is he still battling health issues,

04:27he's battling the loss of his very best friend.

04:31If we could save even one life from going through what my family has gone through,

04:38then it's absolutely worth sharing my mom's story and my grandpa's story

04:44and reliving the hardship and the pain over and again,

04:50because family has always been my number one.

04:54And this virus has made it so my family is no longer whole.

04:57So I plead with everyone to do their part, to wear your masks,

05:07to wash your hands, to social distance and keep your gathering small.

05:13Because there are daughters out there who deserve to have their mom around.

05:19There are husbands who deserve to have their wives around.

05:23So this is, this is not political.

05:28This virus is real.

Category

Transcript

Recommended