'Don't Take Coronavirus As A Joke:' Family Pleads With Public To Get Vaccinated After Two Families Members Die Within 2 Days Of Each Other
By: Shelley Bortz
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - COVID-19 has killed hundreds of thousands in the United States but some families have endured that loss multiple times with the virus taking parents, siblings, and even children, sometimes in quick succession.
"I thought we were going to make it," said Mahogany Brown. "The kids made it."
Sunday was supposed to be an exciting day in the Brown household. It meant sitting in front of the TV cheering the Steelers to victory and after that, a birthday celebration for 8-year-old Sabrina.
That didn't happen.
The husband and father of these four young children, Alan Brown, lost his battle with COVID-19.
"It was a struggle for both of us," Mahogany said. "I just got tired but I told my husband, 'you can't sit around, you have to go to the hospital.' And he was the one who didn't make it."
The young couple had been on the fence about getting vaccinated when one of their sons came home infected with COVID-19 after the first week of school.
The entire family ended up testing positive and they recovered quickly.
Except for Alan.
Within two weeks, he became seriously ill and was admitted to the hospital.
"I was terrified," said Tonya Wilson, Mahogany's mother. "He wasn't my son-in-law, he was my son, to me, and I love him dearly, so I was just terrified."
Alan Brown died in the hospital from COVID-19 complications just one day later.
Meanwhile, his grandfather died two days before also from COVID-19.
Now, the 34-year-old Mahogany is left to raise the children alone.
"I haven't really been able to breathe or move, but I keep going because I'm all these kids got left," Mahogany said.
Reeling from the deaths of their loved ones, Mahogany and her mother have vowed to preach about the need to get vaccinated.
One death is a tragedy and any more than that is a statistic.
"Don't take coronavirus as a joke," Mahogany said. "If you're not vaccinated, I advise you to because it could save your life."
"Nobody is immune from this and nobody is greater than this," Wilson added. "You have to protect yourself and your children because I don't want another mother to feel the way I do today."
Mahogany Brown's mother started a GoFundMe page in an effort to financial aid for her daughter and grandchildren.
