A wife and mother of three from Belmont, Ontario is urging the public to take COVID-19 seriously following the death of her 44-year-old husband who had tested positive for the virus just over one week earlier.
"I have heard so many times in the last week people don't think it's real because they don't know anyone that got it, or got it bad. So, if you know Martin and I, you can now say you know someone who got it," wrote Lisa Haalstra in a Facebook post on Sunday.
What started as a sinus infection for Lisa's husband Martin, did not take long to turn into something much worse. In her post on Facebook, Lisa described how her husband had to be rushed to hospital in an ambulance on Saturday, November 21 after experiencing trouble breathing, just one day after testing positive for COVID-19.
"By [November 22] he was in the ICU and they were prepping him in case he needed to be intubated. He had a feeding tube inserted, given doses of steroids and antibiotics. He has had CT scans, blood tests, chest X-rays. He was on high flow oxygen and was laying on his stomach about nine hours a day so he could breathe... just so he could breathe."
After being intubated and sedated in the ICU, Martin passed away one week later on Sunday, November 29. His obituary described him as "a husband and father first" and added that "his children were the centre of his world."
"He would have done anything for anyone with expecting nothing in return," his obituary read. "His sense of humour was one of a kind, but it’s his devotion and integrity that truly stand out."
Lisa urged everyone in her online post to take the virus seriously and to consider the health of others. She said the COVID-19 virus is nothing like the flu.
"Right now, we need people to be real about COVID. Stop saying why are we taking all these measures when 98 per cent of people are fine. Let's start talking about the two per cent that aren't going to be mild cases," she wrote. "Let's change our mindset and think about protecting them."
Lisa added that she hopes Martin's story can save at least one person from having to go through the same hardship.
"I don't share this so you can feel sorry for us, I am doing this so you know that COVID is real and it can happen to you," Lisa wrote. "I can tell you that no one wants to ever go through this, no one deserves this, Martin does not deserve this. Think about Martin and our story when you make your Christmas plans this year."