‘Ask them to get vaccinated:’ Texas mother shares last message from daughter before dying of COVID-19

FORT WORTH, Texas – A Texas mother shares her daughter’s last message before dying after a weeks-long battle with complications from COVID-19.

“What keeps me going are the girls,” Robin Zinsou said in tears.

Girls are what her 32-year-old daughter, Paige Ruiz, lived for.

Ruiz was an educator and a mother. She had a 2.5 year old daughter named Joanna and was expecting another daughter, Celeste.

“Paige was the life of the party. She had the biggest smile, the biggest personality,” Zinsou told the WFAA. “She loved being a mom.”

Ruiz was due to give birth to Celeste on July 30, 2021. She tested positive for COVID-19 on July 24, a few days before her due date and a few days before the CDC and a national OBGYN group strongly recommended vaccination for pregnant women.

RELATED: CDC Urges All Pregnant Women To Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19

“I kept asking her, ‘Have you talked to the doctor about getting the vaccine?’ And she said, ‘No, mom. I’ll wait until I have the baby, ”Zinsou recalls.

What started as a cough turned into a trip to the emergency room, then an emergency Cesarean. Celeste was born a healthy baby.

“She’s so healthy. She’s growing up. She’s just a happy little baby,” Zinsou said of her new granddaughter.

Ruiz was able to recover enough to be alert and meet his newborn daughter via video call. However, she quickly developed complications from COVID-19.

“She texted me and said, ‘Mom, I would like to get the vaccine,'” Zinsou recalls.

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Ruiz died on August 15. She was never able to hold baby Celeste.

“As Paige’s mother, it was difficult to see her, knowing that she hadn’t been able to see her baby,” her mother said.

Days before his death, Ruiz had a purpose and a lesson to share with everyone, according to Zinsou.

“She was texting her friends and sisters and saying, ‘Do you know someone who is not vaccinated? Beg them to get vaccinated.’ This is Paige’s last message. “

According to the CDC, only 22% of pregnant women are vaccinated. More than 600,000 Americans have died from the virus since the start of the pandemic.

“If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for the people you love,” Zinsou pleaded. “Please. And this is Paige’s last message.”

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