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© Courtesy of Joanna Sisk
47-year-old married couple die same day from COVID-19
Patricia and Leslie McWaters spent 47 years together, raising their children, then their grandchildren and then their great grandchildren. And last week, the Michigan couple passed away from Covid-19 together, in the same minute.
“They literally did everything together and although we are shocked about it, when we look at it we also think it’s not that surprising because they were together the whole time and they had so much fun together in the life, ”said one of their two daughters, Joanna Sisk.
The McWaters are among more than 270,600 people to have died from the coronavirus in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And with the number of hospitalizations constantly reaching new highs, experts fear that more deaths will follow.
At first glance, the two were very different: she was a no-frills retired nurse, and he was a fun-loving veteran and retired truck driver. She was the boss and he was the king of the one-liners. But the common thread everyone saw between Patricia and Leslie “LD” McWaters, said Sisk, was their genuine kindness and concern for others.
They enjoyed being together to throw pool parties, attend family sporting events, and go dancing at the bar where they met.
“Pat was the most beautiful woman ever and my boy was beautiful in hot pants and go-go boots!” Sisk remembers what his father said.
But then Pat went to the hospital to seek treatment for a coronavirus infection, Sisk said. She was told to go home and isolate herself, which she did. After 35 years in the medical field, she did not question doctors, even though she felt unwell, Sisk said.
The following week, the couple returned to the hospital, this time in an ambulance. They were there for a week.
On November 24, Sisk was in his mother’s hospital room after learning that she was in poor condition. Sisk held her hand as his breathing slowed.
Then someone came in and told Sisk that she needed to see her father in a separate room.
“I wasn’t expecting that at all. I wasn’t prepared for him – I was there specifically because they didn’t think my mom would get there that day,” she said. at CNN.
“So when I was there (with my dad)… they just came by at the same time,” she said.
Hospital staff caring for them said the time of death was too close to call and recorded the exact same time: 4:23 p.m.
“Those of us who know them know that mom went first and said, ‘LD, it’s time to go! “
Sisk said she wished her parents had a different outcome in their illness and, although her family didn’t always take her as seriously as they do now, stressed the importance of wearing a mask for do not pass the virus on to others.
She specifically put their cause of death in their obituary to raise awareness in hopes of saving someone else, she said.
“I’m so thrilled that my mom, being the nurse she was… that even in Heaven, she continues to save lives and that means so much,” Sisk said.
Correction: Previous versions of this story misspelled Joanna Sisk’s first name.
© Courtesy of Joanna Sisk
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