Unvaccinated parents died, leaving behind four children

 

Unvaccinated parents died, leaving behind four children

A Virginia couple who died of illness refused to shoot COVID-19, leaving their four children behind.

Kevin and Misty Mechem, both in their 40s, declined the COVID-19 vaccine, despite their family's urging to get the vaccine.

A Virginia couple who refused a COVID-19 vaccine died of the disease just weeks apart. They were survived by their four children and relatives who tried to encourage them to get the shot.

Kevin and Misty Mitchem both contracted COVID-19 and were hospitalized after choosing not to receive the vaccine.

They were just wary. They were going off of what they were hearing and reading on the internet," Mike Mechem.

Data from (CDC) has shown that Pfizer and Moderna's two-vaccine series of vaccines effectively prevent COVID-19 infection. According to CDC data, roughly 61.9% of the Virginia population has been fully vaccinated, compared to 56.8% of the US population who is fully vaccinated.

Kevin, 48, fell ill and was asked to rest at home after testing positive for COVID-19, Mike told the Times-Dispatch. Soon after, Misty, who was 46 and living with diabetes, got sick, too.

Misty was taken to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg and put on a ventilator. She died shortly after on September 23, according to the Times-Dispatch.

"It came out of nowhere," Mike told outlets.

Don Meacham, Kevin's father, said Kevin called him when Misty went to the hospital, and when he later went by himself, Don went to the hospital to see Kevin before he was put on a ventilator.

"He said, Dad, I'm scared to death," Don said NBC 4: "He said he asked Kevin to call his mother, Terry.

Terry told NBC 4: "He called me and said, 'Mom, I love you, and I wish I could get the shot.' Of course, I told him, 'He's gone.'" You can't do anything about it."

Don and Terry already got booster footage of COVID-19 and tried to get Kevin and Misty vaccinated.

While Mike noted that Kevin was "in good health" and "very active," COVID-19 had irreparably damaged his lungs, the Times-Dispatch reported. He died on October 8.

Mike said he was outraged by his brother's death.

"Part of our pain is anger," Mike told the Times-Dispatch. "Anger because people still don't get vaccinated."

Kevin and Misty left behind their four children, ages 11 and17; Kevin had an older daughter and a grandson.

"He had everything to live for," Mike told the Times-Dispatch of his brother. He had five children and a grandson, all of whom are now lost.