Filipina in the US whose parents died of COVID-19 shares heartbreaking story

A Filipina in the US who lost both of her parents to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) shared her family's heartbreaking story.

In a one-on-one video interview with David Begnaud of CBS News, Sheryl Pabatao could not hold back her tears as she recalled how her mother died only a few days after her father succumbed to COVID-19.

Both her parents died in the same hospital, alone and kept away from their loved ones who couldn't pay their final respects.

According to Sheryl, her parents are both medical front liners. Her father Alfredo was a medical transporter, while her mom Susana worked at a long-term care facility. Sheryl herself works at a pharmacy.  

Alfredo started getting sick on March 17, and was taken to the ER on March 19 after being "turned away" by his regular physician.

"He said, 'I can't see you with whats going on right now. You can’t come here. You have to go to the ER'," Sheryl narrated.

"Honestly, I feel like that's a bad idea, because he ’s having shortness of breath. And if he goes to the ER and he has the COVID-19, he’s gonna be endangering a lot of people, but we had no other choice. His own doctor for years turned him away so we ended up going there."

That same night, Susana started having a fever. A few days passed and Sheryl eventually had to take her to the ER, as well.

The daughter had to wait in the car for five hours until her mom got admitted. "I was just there, and I was praying. I just kept praying, for my dad, I kept praying for her (mom)," Sheryl said.

After a week of fighting, Alfredo succumbed to the disease. "He passed away in the same hospital where he worked for 18 years," Sheryl said.

Susana passed away a few days after Sheryl informed her of her father's death via telephone.

"I don't know how my mother [felt] when we told her that dad, the only love of her life, passed away; because if we were already broken and hurt, we can just imagine her. That's her husband, before us," Sheryl shared.

Like most people who lost a loved one because of COVID-19, Sheryl and the rest of the family weren't able to pay their final respects. Her parents' remains were immediately cremated, and they had no funeral or service of any kind.

"We couldn't even hug each other," Sheryl cried.

"I felt so scared to be around people because of what had happened, because what happened to my mom and my dad is anybody’s worst nightmare. I don't wish this to my worst enemy at all, I don't wish this upon anybody."

Sheryl shared her parents’ story to honor their memory and encourage people not to take the threat of COVID-19 lightly.

"I just really wanna advocate for this. The importance of just being quarantined and staying home because people are taking this so lightly," she said.

"People are taking it so lightly and they think that the government is being too much or too extra about it. But... when it hits home, you wanna tell everybody about it. I try my best to say it every day. Even though I don't wanna get out of bed sometimes, I will still record myself to tell everybody the importance of it — staying home to contain this virus, to not let it go higher than it is, and that it just keeps getting higher."