SAN ANTONIO – This holiday season is difficult for many who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19, including the Sifuentes family.
Patricia Sifuentes, the wife of Eloy Sifuentes, a U.S. Air Force veteran who worked at Laughlin Air Force Base, said the virus had devastating effects on her husband’s body and eventually took his life.
“I saw my husband suffer for three months, and it is so cruel what COVID can do to a body,” Patricia said.
Patricia said she tested positive for COVID-19 on July 24. Six days later, Eloy tested positive for the virus as well.
She said her 54-year old husband began to experience chills and headaches. On Aug. 3, he was hospitalized at Uvalde Memorial Hospital.
“He was diagnosed with pneumonia, double pneumonia, and it just went downhill from there,” Patricia said.
Patricia said Eloy was transferred to San Antonio and was treated at several area hospitals.
“He was on a ventilator and off the ventilator several times,” Patricia said. “He worked very hard, loved his job and loved to support his family.”
After undergoing several surgeries and treatments, Eloy died on Oct. 27.
This holiday season, Patricia said she is urging people to make safety a top priority.
“Insinuating that you’re safe is not being safe,” Patricia said. “I made that mistake. I thought we were safe. I thought I could take off my mask. I thought in my home we were going to be OK, and it wasn’t like that at all.”
Patricia said she will be staying home in Bracketville with her 6-year-old son on Thanksgiving Day.
“If I could do it all over again, I’d miss a million holidays to have my husband back again,” Patricia said.