LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A Southland family is facing extraordinary loss after a mother of six died of coronavirus complications just days after delivery.
Veronica Guevara-Giron, 37, died on Thursday, shortly after a positive test for coronavirus, while she was eight months pregnant with her youngest daughter.
“She started saying that she couldn’t breathe, developed a cough that wouldn’t go away, so they ended up taking her to the hospital,” said sister-in-law Nathalia Giron.
After struggling for more than a week on oxygen alone, the doctors delivered Imani five weeks earlier, rushing the newborn to the NICU before his mother could even hold her.
A day later, Guevara-Giron was placed on a fan and was never removed.
“They called her husband and said that she was not getting better, that he could go and see her,” said Nathalia Giron.
With no other underlying conditions besides pregnancy, this family wants to make it clear how dangerous this virus can be.
“The most important thing about her was just being safe,” said Giron.
With a baby in the hospital and five more children at home, this family created a GoFundMe page to help Guevara-Giron’s family and husband, who works in the city’s sanitation.
“We are trying to see if their father can stay home a little longer,” said Giron.
Although this family will overcome this in some way, they will never get back what was taken.
“We can give all the love and support that a family can give, but we will never reach the point of being the mother she was,” said Giron.