The Last Words of a Health Care Worker Who Died of Coronavirus – The New York Times

The next day, Minnoli Aya returned from the University at Buffalo, where she was a freshman. She believed her mother had pneumonia and hoped to surprise her. Instead, she learned her mother had contracted the coronavirus.

I was just on the floor, and I was broken, Minnoli said.

Over the next week, she texted with her mother, who continued to deteriorate. Doctors called Mr. Aya daily. By the end of the week, his wife was increasingly having trouble breathing.

By the morning of March 29, doctors got ready to put Ms. Aya on a ventilator. But there was a life-threatening complication, and they asked Mr. Aya if he wanted to see his wife for what could be the last time. He worried that his heart condition would put him at risk if he caught the virus, and Minnoli could be left without a parent.

The decision not to go, he said, has haunted him. That afternoon, the hospital called to say that his wife had died.

Minnoli, her father and grandmother could not hug each other, because they were required to stay six feet apart, even though they lived in the same house. Nor did they want to plan a funeral service that almost no one would attend, one where they would not be able to view Ms. Ayas body. They decided to have her cremated.

Even after her mother died, Minnoli still texted, trying to stay connected.

I miss u, she wrote before going to bed that night. When she woke the next morning, Minnoli texted, Thank you for coming to me last night in my dreams.

Mr. Aya, concerned about Minnoli, arranged for her to speak to a therapist by video after his wifes death. But he is not sure how long he can afford the expense because Ms. Ayas health care plan had covered the family. A representative of her union benefit fund told him by email that benefits would end 30 days after his wifes death. My heart is broken for you, the representative wrote in the email, which was reviewed by The New York Times.

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The Last Words of a Health Care Worker Who Died of Coronavirus - The New York Times