Take it from me: COVID-19 is no hoax

My best friend, my son John, age 52, died Dec. 14. John suffered with severe rheumatoid arthritis, so his immune system was comprised. We hadn't seen each other for months due to COVID-19.

We'd talk and text and he always stressed washing hands, masking up, keeping distance from others and not dining out. Yet he knew someone who laughed off COVID as just the "flu" and refused to mask up.

John contracted COVID and developed a high fever. He ended up on the COVID ward at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

My heart ached to see him, hug him and tell him all would get better. That's what moms do, right? I was dead wrong. John returned from the hospital and developed a secondary infection. His cough was horrendous.

He was eager to return to work, to life. But on the evening of Dec. 14 he had a seizure; then a massive heart attack, COVID-related. At the hospital as he lay lifeless on the gurney with a tube in his nose and another in his mouth, I scream-cried. I went into shock. Not my son!

I cry on a daily basis. I touch his baby picture and shake. My life will never be the same. Folks, wake up. This isn't a political hoax. This is about being humane.

I'm begging you. Think smart. Be smart. Please. Hug your family daily. Tell them you love them. Our lives changed in a heartbeat for the worst.

Bernadette Velasco

Arlington Heights