Florida vaccine advocate loses six unvaccinated family members to COVID

Florida vaccine advocate loses six unvaccinated family members to COVID
Florida vaccine advocate loses six unvaccinated family members to COVID

A Florida woman who went door-to-door promoting the COVID-19 vaccine lost six unvaccinated relatives to the virus in three weeks, with her uncle urging the rest of the family to get their shots as he struggled to breathe from his deathbed.

'You can't grieve the death of one because then the next day or two, you know, somebody else has passed away,' said Lisa Wilson in an interview Wednesday from a memorial chapel where she was planning yet another service.

All told, she lost her grandmother, uncle and four cousins to the deadly virus that continues to sweep Florida after a record number of deaths in August.

'So it's been really, really hard to comprehend and try to figure this all out.'

The aggressive Delta variant made August the deadliest month in Florida since the pandemic began. There are more people on ICU beds in Palm Beach than there are official ICU beds, according to the county's latest count.

Lisa Wilson, left, says it's been 'really hard to comprehend' the sudden death of six unvaccinated family members from COVID-19 in the past month

Lisa Wilson, left, says it's been 'really hard to comprehend' the sudden death of six unvaccinated family members from COVID-19 in the past month

Wilson helped spread the word about the vaccine in her job as an aide to Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa MckInlay, but she wasn't always able to get through some of her own family members. Wilson is also the wife of Belle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson.

'I work side by side with the communities and constantly push the message to get people vaccinated,' Wilson said, 'but I couldn't convince my family members to get vaccinated.'

She got a call that her uncle Tyrone Moreland, 48, was very sick just last month, but there were no ICU beds available for him.

'We were checking other hospitals and there was not a single bed available in Palm Beach County. They had to transport him to a hospital an hour and a half away,' Wilson told WPTV.

Then her grandmother Lillie Mae Dukes Moreland, 89, tested positive for COVID and pneumonia, with doctors calling her prognosis grim, according to the Palm Beach Post

Wilson's uncle Tyrone Moreland, 48, was the first one to get sick  and succumb to the deadly virus last month. He couldn't get an ICU bed because Palm Beach County was all out

Wilson's uncle Tyrone Moreland, 48, was the first one to get sick  and succumb to the deadly virus last month. He couldn't get an ICU bed because Palm Beach County was all out

Two days after Tyrone's burial, his mother and Wilson's grandmother, Lillie Mae Dukes Moreland, 89, died after she was diagnosed with both COVID and pneumonia

Two days after Tyrone's burial, his mother and Wilson's grandmother, Lillie Mae Dukes Moreland, 89, died after she was diagnosed with both COVID and pneumonia

Her uncle Tyrone admitted to Wilson that she was right in a Facetime conversation before his passing.

'Tell all of our family to get vaccinated. It's horrible. It hurts,' he cried as he gasped for air, according to Wilson.

Two days after

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