MadameNoire
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A couple from Savannah, Georgia, passed from COVID-19 just hours apart from one another.
Martin and Trina Daniel fell ill with the virus around July 4 and their children, who also contracted COVID explained that their symptoms “quickly spiraled” out of control, ABCNews reported.
Martin passed away while at home on July 6 while Trina died shortly after being hospitalized that same night. The entire family was unvaccinated.
“We were already taken aback by his passing but to have to endure the passing of her … was traumatizing,” Cornelius said of his aunt and uncle’s unexpected death.
Fortunately, Martin and Trina’s daughter and son beat the virus. They were released after receiving treatment on July 7, but Cornelius revealed that his cousins were distraught as they were forced to quarantine for two weeks while mourning the loss of their parents. Both teens are now “doing well” he said.
Trina was a stay-at-home mom who adored her two children. Martin was a chemist who loved his profession, Cornelius recalled of his loving uncle.
“One of the reasons I went to Tuskegee was because he went there,” he added.
Quintella Daniel, Martin’s niece called him a “very motivational person.” However, Martin was hesitant about taking the vaccine. Cornelius said his uncle had “a stubborn attitude toward vaccines in general.”
“He trusted the vaccines that had been around for a while,” like for polio, but felt the COVID-19 vaccines were developed too quickly, Cornelius said.
Martin’s weariness of the vaccine was due in part to the harrowing history behind the Tuskegee Syphilis Study that occurred between the 1930s and 1970s. The controversial scientific experiment selected 623 Black men who were intentionally infected with syphilis, but participants were never told. The trial was meant to conduct research about the progression of the disease in the body and the effect of penicillin for treatment– which participants were kept from receiving.
The couple died shortly after they reconsidered taking the life-saving drug. They were scheduled to take the vaccine the week after their sudden passing.
Our prayers go out to the family affected by this tragedy.
