An Arizona father-to-be said that he has lost eight of his family members including his father and his livelihood to the novel coronavirus.
Ricardo Aguirre, 42, is also a father of three sons; two of them along with their mom have battled COVID-19.
Aguirre said that since the pandemic breakdown, he and his family took each and every measure to prevent infection until May 1, when one of them got the virus.
Soon later, his pregnant wife and two children tested positive for the virus as well and as his elderly parents. His 67-year-old dad later succumbed while his mom recovered, but not fully.
“She is not 100 percent, she’s about 60-65 percent better, but she’s here,” Aguirre said adding that seven relatives of his passed away from that very illness.
But the fatalities and human loss were not the only impacts of the unprecedented pandemic on the Aguirre family; their food truck business was also gone due to the lockdown, and with it, their sole livelihood.
“My checking account went negative, it was just like, literally a matter of seconds, when I started seeing my livelihood go away,” Aguirre said.
“I don’t want to cry, because I know God has something better for me. I feel so incompetent.”
Aguirre who is trying to revive his small business from the ruins fears another wave of the vicious virus and a subsequent lockdown that reduced his life to rubble.
“Now, with this going on, I just ask God for strength to get me by another day. That’s all I ask for.”
