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“I work alongside communities and constantly get the message out to get people immunized,” Wilson explained, “but I couldn’t get my family members to get the vaccine.”
Wilson, assistant to Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay and wife of Belle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson, said she received a call in August indicating that her uncle, Tyrone Moreland, was ill and was coming down quickly. “It started with my uncle. He felt so bad. He wasn’t eating and he was coughing a lot,” she said. After paramedics transported him to hospital, they discovered there was no intensive care bed available.
“We were checking other hospitals and there wasn’t a single bed available in Palm Beach County. They had to transport it to a hospital an hour and a half away,” she said.
Within days Wilson’s grandmother, Lillie Mae Dukes Moreland, fell ill. “She went to the hospital, got tested and had Covid and pneumonia,” Wilson said. “First my uncle died, then my grandmother died and the day after she died my cousin died.” Three other cousins died within the next two weeks, Wilson said.
In the midst of his grief, Wilson kept trying to convince others to get vaccinated. “My family is going through a difficult time and I do not wish this on any family member anywhere,” she said. “If my family were vaccinated, they would be here today. Wilson explained that fear and misinformation were major factors in her family members’ refusal to be vaccinated. “They were just scared,” she said. “Everything was new, and they were just scared.”
“Lisa is a quiet force of nature,” McKinlay said. “He’s a person on the ground who has been going door to door encouraging people to get tested, wear masks and get vaccinated in a district that is a hot spot,” McKinlay explained.
“I really hope people are encouraged by her telling her story and encouraged in a way that they don’t want their family going through this and being vaccinated,” McKinlay said.
After losing family members, Wilson continues to encourage others, including family members, to get the vaccine. “I think I’ve now convinced ten of my family to get the shot. If I can just save one person with my story… We’re at a critical point. People are dying.”
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