Mom, 33, gives birth to healthy baby but dies of Covid before she can hold him as family pleads ‘this is real’
A FAMILY have been left heartbroken after a pregnant mother died from Coronavirus before she could hold her newborn son.
Erika Becerra, 33, was diagnosed in November when she was 8 months pregnant and was admitted to hospital.
Doctors decided to induce labour on November 15, and Erika gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Diego Antonio Becerra.
Her brother Michael Avilez explained: “She’s all like, ‘Mom, I don’t feel good. I don’t feel like myself. It’s hard to breathe. The doctor saw she wasn’t getting any better.
“She had a normal labor. She gave birth to her son but didn’t get to hold him because right after she gave birth, that’s when they put the tube in.
“Then, from there, she just started declining.”
FAMILY TRAGEDY
Avilez and his family travelled to Detroit from Los Angeles, where Erika grew up, to be by her bedside.
Erika and her family had recently moved to the city for her husbands job.
The second-time mum had no underlying health conditions, other than pregnancy.
Tragically she was never able to hold her new baby before her death, as she was intubated straight after giving birth.
All my sister wanted was the best for everybody and she cared about lives.
Michael Avilez
Erika died less than a month later on December 3.
Her heartbroken brother continued, “Towards the last moments, she was tearing up. I know she heard us as we prayed for her, we talked to her, we comforted her in the last moments.
“All my sister wanted was the best for everybody and she cared about lives. She didn’t deserve to go through what she went through.”
“It’s is a real thing. I don’t know why people don’t comprehend that.”
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Erika’s husband, Diego, and her 1-year-old daughter both tested negative for the virus.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family cover funeral costs and travel expenses, with the additional funds going to her two young children.
The fundraiser has reached over $41,000 in just 3 days.