Mother And Daughter Die Just Hours Apart Due To COVID-19

Carolina Tovar, 86, and her daughter Letty Ramirez, 54, died from COVID-19 at two different hospitals in southern California on April 3, a Los Angeles Times report says. Their families told Los Angeles Times that the two women were inseparable during their lifetime. They would often spend time together when cooking or watching movies.

Always There For Each Other

Tovar and Ramirez were regarded by their family as the twin matriarchs. Family members would often see them in the kitchen standing side by side, trying out recipes that their children would enjoy. At nighttime, the two would watch classic Mexican films, particularly ones that feature Vicente Fernandez.

As Tovar grew older, Ramirez became her most reliable and trusted caregiver. Her daughter would accompany her to hospitals for her dialysis. Family members say that they have not seen Tovar without Ramirez by her side.

Breathing Difficulties

In March, both women experienced breathing difficulties. Their family brought them to the emergency room, and this time around, they would not leave the hospital together as they always did in the past. Both mother and daughter died from coronavirus infection on April 3 in separate hospitals just hours apart.

The week before their hospitalization, the two women spent their evenings together, just like what they always did. While Ramirez experienced dry cough, which usually occurred in the mornings, she did not find it that bothersome. She continued performing her job as a mortgage broker.

Dropping Oxygen Levels

On March 19, the cough of Ramirez worsened to the point that she was already having breathing difficulties. As her oxygen levels dropped, her own daughter, Alexis, decided to bring her to the hospital. Due to the hospital’s isolation policies, Alexis had no other recourse but to just drop her mother off at the emergency area of St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton.

On the other hand, Tovar, who appeared to be in good health, shortly fell ill afterward. She was brought to the same hospital only a couple of days after Ramirez. That weekend, the husband of Letty Ramirez also experienced COVID-19 symptoms and was also brought to the hospital. Each day after that, family members would update one another through FaceTime about the status of Tovar and Ramirez. They were very much hopeful as Tovar has been through several hospitalizations and had always recovered. Ramirez, meanwhile, was young and very healthy.

The Last Breath

It had seemed at first that Ramirez would recover as she was able to talk to Alexis over the phone, telling her she will be home in a couple of days. Only a few hours after that call, Ramirez was put on a ventilator and was brought to Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. Doctors told the family they found Ramirez had diabetes, kidney failure, and is also suffering from asthma. Her daughter, Alexis, told Los Angeles Times that she would encourage her mom through a FaceTime call. “I just told her, ‘Mom, please keep fighting. We still need you here. We want you to come home,” Alexis said.

Back at St. Jude Medical Center, doctors there informed the family that Tovar needs to be put on a ventilator. One of her daughters then managed to get into her hospital room and called the assembled family on FaceTime. Tovar had said she does not want to be put on a ventilator, and all family members agreed to respect her wishes.

They spent the entire night with Tovar through FaceTime, and except for Letty, who was also hospitalized, were all there as Tovar let out her last breath. Alexis, the daughter of Letty, said that her grandmother was ready, and the rest of the family prepared themselves too. “We were all still talking to her, telling her we loved her, that we’re going to be OK and she doesn’t have to fight anymore,” Alexis said.

A Bond That Death Cannot Break

The family had barely recovered from the death of Tovar when Alexis got a call from a doctor at Providence St. John’s Health Center that evening. The doctor said Letty was not improving, and her toes are turning black. After much thought and talking to the family, Alexis decided to remove her mother from the ventilator. She died within nine minutes after being taken off the machine.

Letty Ramirez never knew that Carolina Tovar, her mother whom she loved very much, had already passed away hours before. In the end, even death could not separate them. Art Aguilar, a nephew of Ramirez and the grandson of Tovar, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, said that in life, they did everything together. “How ironic that you could not separate these two women in life and that fate had made it so that they wouldn’t have to be separated after death,” Aguilar said.