Las Vegas Strip cook dies weeks after being hospitalized with COVID-19

Agustin Valencia found his passion in the kitchen.

He worked two jobs on the Strip that helped provide for his wife and two daughters in Mexico, often at the expense of a full night’s rest.

Valencia, who went by Alex, died Oct. 24 after being hospitalized more than a month earlier with COVID-19. He was 45.

“He was always trying to help people just, you know, do better with their lives and be positive,” said his 22-year-old son, Alejandro, who also goes by Alex.

The elder Valencia came to the United States from Mexico as a child. He was young when he picked up cooking.

“He’s just been cooking since I can remember, since I was a kid,” Valencia’s son said. “He’s always been cooking. That’s kind of just his passion.”

Valencia was a cook at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville at the Flamingo and Citizens Kitchen &Bar in Mandalay Bay, his son said.

He often sent his family money, and when he could get away from work, he would take time to visit them. Those trips were the only time he got to rest, his son said.

He had gone to Mexico when the Strip shut down but came back about the time casinos reopened, his son said.

Valencia, a diabetic who took medication for blood pressure, started feeling sick in mid-September, his son said.

First it was stomach pain. As days passed, Valencia was short of breath and began feeling more symptoms. He was hospitalized at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center on Sept. 19.

“He was really scared to go to the hospital, like that was kind of our last resort,” his son said.

Not long after entering the hospital, he had a heart attack and was put on a ventilator, Valencia’s 28-year-old sister, Valeria Valencia, said. While on the ventilator, he’d tested positive for the virus again, she said.

“And then I believe that once they brought him to a regular room where we were able to see him, that’s when he didn’t have it (COVID-19) anymore,” Valeria Valencia said. “But he already had damage done in his body.”

He was moved to the regular room the Tuesday before his death, she said.

Valeria said that in life, her brother joked around a lot and was always trying to give advice. He was a loving dad who put his children first.

Valencia’s son said he will miss his dad’s laugh and how caring he was.

“He was just a really special person,” he said.

To help with funeral expenses, the family has set up a GoFundMe page.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.