A Filipino American hospital administrator in Queens, New York, lost his mother and brother to the pandemic coronavirus within a single tragic day, the New York Post reported Friday, April 10.
“It’s been devastating,” Lloyd Torres, 49, said through tears. “For those who are walking around thinking life is still normal — it’s not.”
Lloyd Torres, 49, works as a hospital admin at Columbia University Irving Center. He tearfully told The Post that his mother, 73-year-old Lolita, and brother Louis, 47 years old, began feeling ill at their home on April 1. Louis is a nursing-home worker.
“[Louis] was aching, not feeling well, really had a hard time going to the subway and back home,” he said. “He started to have difficulty breathing, couldn’t keep food down.”
Louis was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Queens in Flushing and was later diagnosed with COVID-19 and pneumonia and placed on a ventilator. Their mother, Lolita, then called 911 for herself and was taken to Queens Hospital Center.
Lolita died Tuesday while Louis died hours later on Wednesday. The Torres family struggled to find a funeral home that would accommodate his mom’s and brother’s remains. Lloyd said there were waiting lists. They eventually found a funeral home in Westchester.
“We all have to stay at home and do our part. We have to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Lloyd told The Post.
“Today, we lost my little brother Louis. He was a generous and sensitive soul, who lived life on his terms. He, like my mom, succumbed to COVID 19,” Lloyd said in Facebook tribute post to his brother and mother. “I will always remember his jokes and his smile, the selfless way he cared for my mom and dad, and most of all, all those great times we shared together growing up and figuring life out together as sons of The Iron Hand and our “slipper slinging Crazy Mother.”
“I love you Louis, rest in peace little brother and say hello to mom and dad in Heaven,” he added.
USA has the most number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths worldwide. As of April 14, the US recorded 613,235 cases and 25,989 deaths, with a single-day record of 2349 new fatalities.
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