A Chicago mother's warning after poor air quality led to her daughter's death
CHICAGO (CBS) – One Chicago family is warning others about the dangers of the poor air quality the city has been seeing this summer, because of smoke from Canadian wildfires.
They lost a loved one, a young mother who left behind two children. CBS 2's Marybel Gonzalez had the family's warning for everyone, only on 2.
The Chicago skyline may have cleared up from what it looked like two weeks ago when smoke from the wildfires loomed over the city.
"I had to put the mask on inside my car because I could not breathe myself," said Diana Mercado.
But the toll it left behind can still be felt, especially for Mercado, whose daughter, Destiny, had suffered from asthma since she was 5 years old.
"We knew the smoke was bad," Mercado said. "And I told her not to come outside so she didn't, but our air conditioners got the crack in it."
Even with all the precautions, Diana said the poor air quality proved to be too much for her daughter to handle.
"She was telling me 'I'm really feeling bad. I don't know. I can't breathe,'" Mercado said.
Destiny was rushed to the hospital and then released days later, something not unusual for the 26-year-old, but last Friday, she was back.
"She's been sick before and she's gone and came back home after three days, but this time was back-to-back," Mercado said. "She's never gone back-to-back to the hospital like that.
"Friday, she fought the whole night. Saturday, she fought and Saturday night at 10:17, she passed away. They said there was not more they could do for her."
Destiny left behind her two young sons.
"The younger one just keeps telling me, 'When am I going to get to see my mom?'" Mercado said.
A grieving grandmother is left to care for them.
"If I would have known this was going to happen, I would have taken the air conditioners out the window and just shut them completely because now I'm without my child," she said.
It may have cleared up now, but the threat of unhealthy air quality returning in Chicago is still very real. The Canadian government said it's bracing for more wildfires throughout the year.
Mercado is asking everyone to take the threat seriously.
"So I advise people to really listen to it because people do die from it," Mercado said. "No, these things are not fake. They are real and they do hurt families."