A dad-of-five texted his fiancée to say he ‘should have got that damn vaccine’ just before dying with Covid in hospital.
Michael Freedy, 39, tested positive for the virus while suffering from the effects of what he thought was just bad sunburn after a family trip to San Diego.
The Las Vegas casino worker’s illness got rapidly worse and he died on Thursday after spending his final days in intensive care, unable to breathe without the help of machines.
Partner Jessica DuPreez told CNN that the couple had decided to wait a year before getting the shot so they could judge which one was best for their family.
‘It was never no, we’re not doing it’, she said. ‘We needed to see which one was best for us. Which one had the least side effects…what is the safest one.
‘It was never anything about not doing it. The hesitancy was which way to go.’
Michael, known as ‘Big Mike’ to friends, had two children with Jessica and was also a step-father to her three kids from a previous relationship.
The family had decided to go on a short holiday over July 12 and 13 because of the extreme heat their home city of Las Vegas was experiencing, Jessica explained in a GoFundMe post.
All the family got sun burnt during a day at the beach and Mike’s skin ‘turned almost purple’ and was covered by ‘small water blisters.’
He missed work over the next few days as he was getting chills, couldn’t eat and struggled to get comfortable.
Doctors initially told him it was sun stroke but, when his condition didn’t improve, he went to ER and tested positive for Covid.
After trying to recover at home, Mike felt dizzy and couldn’t breathe and was admitted to hospital.
When he got in, medics found his blood oxygen level was at 72, and they told him they were ‘surprised he was even able to walk and talk.’
Scans revealed he had pneumonia in both of his lungs and he was placed on the highest level of oxygen.
He was moved to a different hospital and spent several days in intensive care as his condition continued to deteriorate.
Jessica revealed some of the last messages he sent her including just texting ‘911 911 911’ and ‘I love you with everything I am!’
Jessica shared a heartbreaking update on Thursday, to tell supporters Mike had died.
‘His numbers crashed and they were not able to bring them back up,’ she wrote.
‘The love of my life, my rock, my everything. The father to my babies, is no longer with us. I don’t know what to do.’
Speaking to CNN, she encouraged others who may still be ‘on the fence’ that it was totally worth getting the vaccine, saying ‘my kids don’t have a dad anymore because we hesitated.’
‘I would take a bad reaction to the vaccine over having to bury my husband, I would take that any day.’
Jessica said Mike was a ‘larger than life’ character who ‘everybody just loved.’
‘He was amazing. His smile, as lopsided as it was, was just infections. His whole personality was just a gentle giant. He would give you the shirt off his back – if that’s what it took.’
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