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An unvaccinated Florida man died of COVID-19 minutes before he became a grandfather, according to a report.
Shane O’Neal, 40, died on September 3 just 19 minutes before his daughter Kylie Dean gave birth to a son in the Jacksonville area, USA Today reported.
Dean was in labor when she got the call her father wasn’t going to make.
“I broke down and was literally sobbing,” Dean told the newspaper. “And my family and friends are standing at my window, literally watching me crash.”
O’Neal was planning to get the shot before testing positive for the coronavirus last month, Dean told First Coast News in an interview as his father was intubated. He had no “underlying health problem” but ended up in hospital a week later, she said.
“Knowing Him is just loving Him,” Dean said. “He’s a sociable person… he’s just a good local.”
The family was trying to locate a vital ECMO machine, according to the report.
Dean, an intensive care nurse, already sees her father in newborn baby Preston, she told USA Today. Her father used to signal “I love you” in sign language and the baby sometimes seems to do the same, she said.
“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but it always brings me back to my dad when I see him,” she told the newspaper.
About 70% of eligible Floridians have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the latest data from the State Department of Health.
In the week ending September 16, there were more than 75,000 positive cases and 384 pandemic-related deaths, according to figures from the department. More than 51,000 people have died in the Sunshine State from the virus, data shows.
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