We have received a great many comments on our website from people who insist that COVID-19 is just not that big a deal. They insist that most people recover, especially if they are young and healthy. Many people still believe that the case numbers and the deaths are false. I have to admit that I become impatient with such comments, especially when I read about young healthy people who die from COVID-19. Here is a recent case that broke my heart.
The Death of Sarah Simental:
Mike Nolan, writing in the Chicago Tribune (Dec. 29, 2029), describes what happened:
“Just days before Christmas, 18-year-old Sarah Simental, a senior at Lincoln-Way East High School, complained to her mom of suffering from a mild headache and congestion.
“‘We thought it was a cold,’ her mom, Deborah Simental, said Tuesday.
“This past Sunday, surrounded by her family, the Tinley Park teen who loved animals and volunteered at a pet rescue died at the University of Chicago Medical Center, with COVID-19 having brought on respiratory failure.
“‘She was a healthy young lady who had just turned 18 in November and had the world in her hands,” her mother said.”
Young People Die from COVID-19:
Sarah’s tragic death is not the first time we have learned that young people can die from COVID-19. Michael Lang was also 18. He was ready for college. Within months of starting classes at the University of Dayton he “contracted COVID-19 and died” (ABC News, Nov. 19, 2020).
According to this ABC news report:
“At least 410 people in the 15-24 age group have died while young adults ages 25-34 have accounted for at least 1,725 COVID-19-related deaths, according to the CDC.”
The ABC report also mentions Adeline Fagan. She was 28 years old and a physician herself. She caught COVID-19 during a rotation in the emergency department of HCA Houston Healthcare West. She suffered a stroke brought on by the coronavirus and died shortly after.
Her mother told ABC News:
“‘To those who don’t believe, tell them to call me. Because I have pictures of Adeline gasping for air, of being chalk-white, turning blue in the mouth and being hooked up to every possible machine known to mankind,’ she said. ‘It has wrecked our lives. It has permanently put a hole not only in my heart, my husband’s heart, but our children’s. Her siblings. They will never be the same.’”
Congressman-Elect Luke Letlow Dead at 41
It was announced on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, that the incoming Louisiana Republican Congressman, Luke Letlow, died from complications of COVID-19. He didn’t have co-morbidities or underlying health problems that would have made him especially vulnerable to COVID-19.
Congressman-elect Letlow tested positive on December 18. He was admitted to St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe, LA. Because of the seriousness of his condition he was transferred to LSU Health in Shreveport. Luke Letlow died Tuesday, December 29th. He leaves behind a wife and two young children and a great many loyal supporters.
How Many Die from COVID-19?
We share these few stories because we get swamped by statistics. How can we wrap our heads around nearly 20 million cases of COVID-19 in the US? At last count over 340,000 people have died from this disease. Each of those people touched many other lives. There is now a gaping hole in the fabric of our society.
I get frustrated by comments from visitors who maintain COVID-19 is not that big a deal:
Donna says there is a fraud going on:
“Don’t live your life in fear of a virus that has a 99+% recovery rate. Pneumonia and influenza deaths are being called COVID deaths.”
Don doesn’t like the mRNA vaccines:
“There is a full court press to vaccinate the entire human population of the planet against an illness that has a 99% plus survivability rate.”
Kathryn thinks doctors are “required to list COVID as cause of death when the fatality was otherwise”:
“This virus has a 97-99% recovery rate. We keep losing sight of this fact. I did not work this hard and long to live my life alone and in fear.”
Tom doesn’t think young healthy people die from COVID-19:
“This virus is a virulent flu but dangerous only to those with other health complications, mostly related to compromised immune systems. About 98.5% of the population is at little risk, comparable to the regular flu.”
Too Many People Have Died From COVID-19!
America grieved for years after 2,977 died on 9/11. We have lost more than that number of people in a day to COVID-19. Between 1941 and 1945 we lost 291,557 combat soldiers during World War II. More people have died from this virus in 10 months.
There is no way to measure the pain and suffering COVID-19 has caused. It will leave a mark on the world that will be remembered for generations.
We are grateful to the health professionals who have put their lives on the line to save fellow Americans. We hope the vaccines will eventually bring this pandemic to an end. In the meantime, we must do everything we can to protect each and every life.
Young healthy people do die from COVID-19. So do middle-aged people. And yes, older people have been especially hard hit. That is why they are first in line to get vaccinated, along with front-line health care workers.
