'He Wanted To Come Home': Azusa Family Grieving Loss Of Husband, Father Due To COVID-19 Asks People To Stay Home A Little Longer
AZUSA (CBSLA) — Luciana Ramirez stood outside her home Tuesday with daughters Beatriz and Alexia, who stood on the other side of a chainlink fence.
That little bit of distance likely kept Alexia healthy, even after 10 of her family members contracted the novel coronavirus — including Luciana, Beatriz and her father, Guillermo Ramirez.
Despite the aggressive precautions taken by Guillermo, such as wearing a mask and gloves and washing his groceries and shoes after returning home, the virus still found its way into the Azusa home — eventually sending three to the hospital.
"I was like, 'Dad, just let me go in there, and I can take care of you guys," Alexia said.
But her father, in an effort to keep her healthy, would not let her near the front door.
Luciana said her husband was sick at home for nine days before going to the hospital.
"He wanted to come home," she said.
And everyone thought Guillermo would come home, but just as doctors prepared to place him on a ventilator, he died.
"I know I have to go on, but I feel like I don't want to go on without him," Luciana said.
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It's been one week since Luciana lost her husband, and best friend of 30 years, and his seven children lost their father.
"I would trade anything to have my dad back," Beatriz said. "Anything."
And the family said they could not believe that people were staging protests to get back to business.
"They're protesting," Luciana said. "They're standing next to each other."
The family said the most considerate thing people could do to honor the lives of those who have died from COVID-19, and save the lives of their own loved ones, would be to stay home for a little while longer.
"People don't want to take this serious," Alexia said. "That hurts. I hate it."
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover Guillermo's funeral costs.
