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She loved the animals of Kentucky and was a “shining ray of the sun” to anyone who knew her. He was a father of two and a “young soul” in Florida, who could often be found on the water on his boat. They were excited about the next chapters of their lives – for her, a wedding; for him, his first grandson.
Samantha Wendell and Shane O’Neal also both resisted the COVID-19 vaccination for months, due to feelings of fear or fearlessness, before deciding to make an appointment to be vaccinated. But before they could, they contracted COVID-19 and, after weeks of serious illness, died last month after doctors exhausted all options, their families said.
Their two tragic stories have been shared publicly on social media and in the media by grieving family members trying to understand what happened, and possibly prevent others from suffering the same loss.
They also represent a population that public health experts are still trying to reach, as millions of people in the United States remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 as the most contagious delta variant continues to spread.
“Misinformation killed my cousin”
Days after returning home from her bachelorette party in Nashville in July, Wendell, a surgical technician from Grand Rapids, began to feel ill, her cousin, Maria Vibandor Hayes, told ABC News . Her fiance, Austin Eskew, also fell ill, she said, about a month before the two college sweethearts tied the knot on August 21.
Eskew recovered, but Wendell’s disease progressed to the point where she had difficulty breathing and had to be hospitalized the second week of August, according to Vibandor Hayes. The following month was a “roller coaster” of progress and setbacks, his cousin said. Wendell was transferred to an Indiana hospital, where she was put on BPAP (two-level positive pressure) to help her breathe, but the week of her wedding she was intubated and put on a ventilator, a said Vibandor Hayes.
After a few weeks of ups and downs, Wendell’s condition did not improve and doctors told the family they had done all they could, her cousin said. She died on September 10 from COVID-19 at the age of 29.
“I didn’t think this would be our story,” Vibandor Hayes said. “Surely we’re going to a wedding before the end of the year, Sam is going to wake up and she will be fine and we are going to celebrate and live life. But it wasn’t.”
“I just never want another family to go through what our family went through, say goodbye to someone on the phone,” she said.
It was especially difficult to see what his cousin went through as Vibandor Hayes is a long haul COVID-19, having contracted the virus in March 2020. “I remember how I felt, I remember how I thought that I could possibly die, ”said Vibandor Hayes, who still suffers from brain fog.
The couple had an appointment to be vaccinated after Wendell returned from her bachelorette party, but they both fell ill, Vibandor Hayes said. They had previously hesitated due to infertility issues, but Wendell’s mother had encouraged them to get the vaccine before their wedding and honeymoon, the cousin said.
Wendell was not the only one to fear the vaccine – others were hesitant to get the vaccine due to unfounded rumors it could lead to infertility. Medical experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pointed out that there is no link between vaccines and fertility.
“Misinformation killed my cousin,” Vibandor Hayes said. “She’s a smart young woman, she always has been. I feel like if she could’ve seen things from another angle and if she had all the information at hand, she wouldn’t. ultimately wouldn’t have hesitated for so long. “
The Delta variant a turning point
O’Neal was an avid outdoorsman who could often be found fishing, jet skiing or hunting, his daughter, Kylie Dean, told ABC News.
The Maxville resident, outside of Jacksonville, wasn’t too worried about getting a COVID-19 vaccine – he was mostly left alone on his boat when he wasn’t at his construction business, said Dean.
“They had [COVID-19] was real and he knew what was going on, but I don’t think he lived his life in fear, ”Dean said.
The “turning point,” she said, was the delta variant, which fueled a spate of cases and hospitalizations, especially in the Jacksonville area.
“He knew the people affected by it, that it’s not something that’s going to go away, it actually comes back almost with vengeance,” Dean said. “So that’s why he was like, you know what, I’m just going to go ahead and do it.”
The week O’Neal was scheduled to get the shot, he tested positive for COVID-19 in early August, his daughter said. He was hospitalized a week later and was eventually put on a ventilator. He was a good candidate for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy, a last resort for patients with COVID-19, although his hospital did not have the machine, Dean said. After pleading for an ECMO bed, doctors were able to find one for her. But his condition deteriorated and he died in the early morning hours of September 3 at the age of 40.
About 20 minutes after his death, Dean gave birth to his baby boy, O’Neal’s first grandchild.
“I literally broke down, crying hysterically,” Dean said when she got the call her father was going to make. “I didn’t want him to die alone.”
The family is still “in shock,” Dean said. Her father was young and had no comorbidities, but his disease progressed quickly.
Dean, an intensive care unit nurse, hopes to improve access to ECMO therapy and has spoken out to warn others of the virus and urge them to protect themselves. “He’s a monster and people have to be careful,” she told ABC News Jacksonville affiliate WJXX.
Personal point of view
Wendell and O’Neal’s stories are similar to others shared by family members. Other recent reports of people who planned to be vaccinated but died after contracting COVID-19 include a 53-year-old former Texas city councilor, a 39-year-old teacher from Illinois, a 48-year-old teacher in Florida and a 20 -a college student in North Carolina.
Almost all hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 are in unvaccinated people, as health workers and in some cases hospitalized people themselves advocate for vaccination.
As of Wednesday, some 70 million people eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine remain unvaccinated, according to federal data. Over 65% of people aged 12 and over are fully immunized nationally, which is low given the level of access to free vaccines in the United States, Rupali Limaye, director of behavioral and human sciences the implementation at the International Vaccine Access Center, based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News.
At this point, two main forces can get someone hesitant to get vaccinated, Limaye said – one hears of someone regretting not having received the vaccine, the other of a vaccine warrant.
“If someone they know themselves is faced with a very serious case and someone they know dies or is about to die, I think that tends to change their mind.” , said Limaye. “Or the vaccine mandate, because then that’s sort of an economic sanction.”
The reluctance continues to be fueled by safety concerns and mistrust of the vaccine development process, as well as the belief that preventive measures are unnecessary, she said. Public health experts continue to work to dispel misinformation, but hearing personal stories could have an impact.
“If it’s someone you know where you can hear a friend, ‘This is what happened to my mother,’ I think that puts people in a lot of perspective compared to the public health people who say you should get it, ”Limaye mentioned. “I think that makes it a lot more real.”
Vibandor Hayes said she received “hate mail” from strangers after urging people to get vaccinated, but wanted to keep speaking out to help prevent another family from experiencing the same heartache.
“If this is the gift she left us, to share with others, then this is what we will do,” said Vibandor Hayes.
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