FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida mom lost two children to COVID-19 -- 11 days apart.
Monete Hicks told WPLG she didn't know either of her children had coronavirus until they were rushed to the hospital.
Her son, Byron Francis, had just turned 20 when he began struggling to breathe. The family called paramedics. He went into cardiac arrest and died on June 27 at Florida Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Less than a week later, Hicks' 23-year-old daughter Mychaela was hospitalized at Broward Health Medical Center. She died on July 8 from coronavirus complications, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
“One minute, I hear she’s fine, she’s stable — the next thing I hear, her kidneys are failing," Hicks told WPLG.
According to the local television station, she's still not sure how her children became infected, but the grieving mother is encouraging people to wear masks, saying the pandemic is "not a game."
Both kids struggled with asthma and obesity, which are underlying conditions that can make people more susceptible to complications from the virus.
According to the GoFundMe page, Mychaela was "affectionately known" as Kayla Pretty Barbie and spent her life helping others. Byron was described as the family's "Big Teddy Bear" with a smile that could "light up a room."
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