Elgin Butera manager, wife on ventilators due to COVID-19

The manager of a Butera Market in Elgin and his wife have been placed on ventilators while fighting COVID-19, and their relatives say they are grateful for the outpouring of support from the community.

Emilio, 50, and Elizabeth Cuahquentzi, who turns 42 Tuesday, live in Rockford, where their children Paola, 20, and Josue, 23, have been in self-isolation.

"We just wanted to help and we couldn't be near them," Paola Cuahquentzi said.

Elizabeth Cuahquentzi was opening her eyes and responding to instructions Saturday, her family said. "Today was the biggest improvement in the last four or five days," said her sister Sandra Ortiz of Elgin, who is in charge of calling the nurses every day for updates.

Emilio Cuahquentzi is making slower progress, requiring dialysis and more help from the ventilator, she said

The family includes another sister, Diana Ortiz, and their parents, also in Elgin. Not being able to see the couple while they are in hospital has been agonizing, but it's been touching to get so many calls and messages of well-wishes, the family said.

Emilio Cuahquentzi, who immigrated from Mexico, has worked at the Butera at Tyler Creek Plaza in Elgin since it opened in late 2014. The couple, who will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary next year, met when they both worked at the Butera store at Clock Tower Plaza in Elgin. Elizabeth Cuahquentzi now works part-time as a cashier at Blain's Farm and Fleet in Rockford.

The couple have a loving relationship, their daughter said. "My mom likes to tease my dad, my dad is more the quiet type," she said.

A GoFundMe to pay for medical expenses and future bills had raised $6,725 by Saturday afternoon. Paola said she's grateful that Butera has been paying her father's weekly salary while he's in the hospital.

Butera's corporate office declined to comment on specific employees, saying, "We wish a speedy and full recovery for anyone sick with COVID19."

Blain's Farm & Fleet said Elizabeth Cuahquentzi had been on a voluntary leave of absence since April 3. "We were saddened to learn that she subsequently became ill. Our hearts go out to her and her family," spokeswoman Suzy Ginsburg said.

Elizabeth had high blood pressure and her husband was healthy before getting sick with the new coronavirus, the family said.

Paola Cuahquentzi said her mother got a cough in mid-March and was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. Her father started getting sick with chills and fever around April 5, and her mother got the same symptoms a few days later. Her mother tested positive April 11 while her father tested positive April 13. Her mother was hospitalized April 15 and her father three days later, both at SwedishAmerican Hospital in Rockford, she said.

The ordeal has been rough on the family, which exhorted people to take the disease seriously. "Seeing someone gasping for air ... " Sandra Ortiz said. "I don't wish that on anyone."