Paige Ruiz.Photo: Facebook
Anunvaccinated mom who died of COVID-19soon after giving birth to her second child spent her last days urging people not to make the same choice and to get vaccinated.
Paige Ruiz, a 32-year-old school administrator living near Dallas, was nine months pregnant when she tested positive for COVID-19. She and her husband, Daniel, also have an older daughter, Joanna, and when she got pregnant Ruiz decided to hold off ongetting vaccinated.
(The Centers for Disease Control and OB-GYN groupsstrongly advise people who are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive to get vaccinatedagainst COVID-19, as studies have confirmed that the vaccines are safe and effective for those groups.)
Ruiz getting COVID-19 while pregnant “was my worst fear,” Zinsou said.
The mom of two was hospitalized with severe symptoms after testing positive, and doctors performed an emergency C-section to save her newborn daughter, Celeste.
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But in the next few days, Ruiz’s health deteriorated. Researchers have found that COVID-19 significantly increases the risk of pregnancy complications such as premature and stillborn births and miscarriages.
Ruiz spend her last days before her death on Aug. 15 urging people to get vaccinated.
“She said that she wished she had gotten the vaccine, she texted that to me,” Zinsou said. “I didn’t find out until after she passed that she was texting that same message to her sister and to her friends. And she wanted people to get vaccinated.
Ruiz’s two daughters are “healthy and they’re doing well,” Zinsou said. Ruiz’s sister, Natasha, hasset up a GoFundMeto help pay for funeral costs and establish a savings fund for Celeste and Joanna.
And Zinsou has a message for others.
“Mask up. Get vaccinated, so this doesn’t happen to your family.”
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source: people.com
