Utah couple mourn loss of son to COVID-19

SALT LAKE CITY – Amid Utah’s extremely high number of COVID-19 cases and an ever-rising death toll, a family remembered a loved one on Wednesday who died after contracting the disease .

While Patty and Roy Sandstrom – both in the mid-1980s – fell ill with COVID-19 in late October, their son suffered extensively from fatigue.

However, as the Sandstrom family’s 40s neared last week, Michael, 53, took a bad turn.

“He slipped to the ground and Roy couldn’t lift him, so we called the paramedics,” said Patty Sandstrom.

Roy Sandstrom said that once Michael was in the intensive care unit at St. Mark’s Hospital on Saturday, it was obvious his lungs were filled with fluids and not functioning properly.

“They said they couldn’t even get enough oxygen to resuscitate her lungs,” her mother said. “And then it just took her.

Michael died on Sunday afternoon as his sister, Laura Sandstrom Bascom, held his hand.

“He just said for two or three moments, ‘Remember, remember, remember Michael,'” his father recalls.

“(These were) her last words to Laura,” her mother said.

The family pleaded Wednesday night for the public to take COVID-19 seriously by wearing masks and following all guidelines.

“Always wear the mask – always,” Roy Sandstrom said. “If they think it’s a political decision, tell them they should stay in our shoes for a while. They would never think that again.

The couple wondered if the disease should perhaps have taken them instead of their son, who has Down syndrome.

Michael, they said, had been in good health most of his life.

“(It) should be us at the morgue,” Patty Sandstrom said. “That’s what’s amazing. We’re 84 and 85, and we’re still here.

“We should have been on the slab,” Roy shrugged.

The Sandstroms remembered their son as a funny soul who rejoiced at his song.

“He knew all the words and he was so over-keyed,” Patty Sandstrom said. “It was amazing!”

Roy said his son was a “kind and gentle person” and his “angel”.

“I told everyone and they agreed,” Michael’s dad said. “He loved his dad, and that’s why it’s hard for dad to say goodbye to him.

Bascom said his brother was very kind and sensitive.

Jay Hancock, Deseret News

“You had to be careful about talking, fighting around him or anything like that because he was getting mad,” she said. “If someone was sad and cried, you would see the tears start to flow.”

Nephew Cameron Cross said his uncle was the type of person who could immediately brighten up someone’s mood.

“He’s changed the lives of so many people just by his presence,” Cross said.

Bascom said she was grateful to be able to be with Michael at the end of her life.

“It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but it was the most expensive thing I will ever have,” Bascom said.

Family members have created a GoFundMe page to help offset expenses and provide what they hope will be appropriate service for “Mikey”.