Ana Lara said her father, 62-year-old Jose Jesus Lara Canedo, loved to cook, play the guitar, and sing. The grandfather, father, and husband was known for always helping others.
"He was really good at listening to your problems and give you advice, he was always there for us, even when he was feeling sick," Lara said.
She said several weeks ago her father came home from his job at a Dallas manufacturing company , which he's worked at for more than 20 years.
"He said he had a carrot juice that my mom made for him and decided to have a soda, a coke that afternoon he began feeling ill," Lara explained. "My dad was a diabetic, so we figured maybe he had way too much sugar and you know that was the symptom of his diabetes talking."
Four days later he still felt bad, and couldn't go to work, so Lara took her dad to the clinic.
"As suspected, his blood sugar was at 500 which is really, really high. The doctor gave him some medicine and upped his dosage and told him to come back in two weeks," Lara said.
But Lara Canedo's health continued to decline. She said her father was weak, couldn't go to the restroom by himself, and didn't want to eat, so they called 911.
"We just thought it was his diabetes and that he was going to be fine," Lara said as they expected him to come home soon.
When the 62-year-old arrived at the hospital he was tested for the coronavirus, and tested positive.
"When they told us he had tested positive from COVID-19, that was a big shock for us," Lara said.“ We were scared because he never showed any signs he never had any fevers, he never really coughed, none of those symptoms you see on TV or the news.”
Lara Canedo spent 10 days in the hospital. He ended up dying from pneumonia on Saturday according to his family. They said they got to tell him goodbye on the phone, but he was unconscious.
“We’re coping as best as we can I suppose, especially since we weren’t able to see him in his last moments which is something he asked for and wanted to," Lara said about her dad. Because of strict rules at hospitals due to the pandemic, visitors were not allowed.
Lara, her mother and sister also contracted the virus. Each of them have experienced different symptoms. Lara said she's had stomach pain, fevers and weakness, while her sister did not have a fever.
"I couldn’t keep anything down and it was just pain, pain, pain, pain, all the time," Lara described.
She said she wants others to be conscious as the novel coronavirus continues to spread.
“COVID-19 is not a joke, this is not a simple flu, this is not a simple cold. People are losing their lives and are getting complications due to this," Lara said.
