A father-of-five sent a heartbreaking text message to his fiancee saying he should have had the COVID-19 vaccine - just days before he succumbed to the deadly disease.
Michael Freedy, 39, passed away Thursday at a hospital in his hometown of Las Vegas, less than two weeks after contracting the virus.
Earlier this month, Freedy and his fiancee, Jessica DuPreeze, took a beach vacation to California with their five kids - aged between 17 and 17 months.
After returning to Las Vegas, Freedy fell ill and went to hospital believing he was suffering from severe sunstroke.
Doctors discovered his blood oxygen level was critically low and tested him for Covid, which returned a positive result.
As his breathing deteriorated, Freedy texted DuPreeze saying: 'I should have gotten the damn vaccine.' He was later placed on a ventilator before he passed away.
Speaking with KMOV on Friday, a heartbroken DuPreeze explained: 'We wanted to wait just one year from the release [of the vaccine] to see what effects people had, but there was never any intention to not get it'.
She said that she has now had her first shot and will 'always regret' not making Freedy get immunized.
'He was only 39. Our babies now don't have a dad. You can't say I am young and it won't affect me because it will,' she told the news network.
Michael Freedy, 39, passed away Thursday at a hospital in his hometown of Las Vegas, less than two weeks after contracting the virus
Freedy is pictured with his fiancee Jessica DuPreeze and four of their five
