‘No final words, no I love you’ as family loses their rock to COVID-19

Maria Garcia-Rodelo was her family’s rock — always there for her husband and children.

“I think that’s going to be the hardest thing, to adjust to not having her guide me in motherhood,” said her daughter, Lisa Garcia, 26. “My sisters and I wouldn’t be the women that we are if it weren’t for my mom. Every time I had a question, mom would be the first person I call.”

The 52-year-old mother of seven passed away from COVID-19 on April 12, according to her family.

Her family believe she contracted the virus at her job as a housekeeper for Embassy Suites. The hotel did not return multiple requests for comment.

Aside from a diagnosis of osteoporosis, Garcia-Rodelo seemed healthy, her family members said. She took between two and three months off work to strengthen her bones and returned to her job in mid-February with a lighter workload.

When nonessential businesses were ordered to close on March 18, the Garcia family was surprised that the hotel stayed open, though the order exempted hotels, and that Garcia-Rodelo continued working.

‘I can stay. I’ll help out’

“My mom was very hardworking. If they were short-staffed, my mom would be the one who would say, ‘I can stay. I’ll help out,’” Garcia said.

After her shift on March 25, Garcia-Rodelo came home feeling sick, Garcia said.

The last night she saw her mother, she remembers Garcia-Rodelo saying her chest felt heavy and tight. The next morning, on March 29, Garcia called 911.

“She said, ‘I can’t breathe, just call me an ambulance. I need to go now,’” Garcia said. “That was the last time any of us really saw her.”

The family was not allowed to visit Garcia-Rodelo at Centennial Hospital, so Garcia and her oldest brother, Sergio Garcia, 34, took turns calling the hospital once in the morning and once at night for updates on her condition.

Lisa Garcia was devastated she couldn’t be in the same room with her mother, much less the same building, to offer support — especially because the family lived nearby.

“Knowing she was a two-minute walk away and we couldn’t be there was heartbreaking,” she said.

At first staff thought Garcia-Rodelo had pneumonia, but a positive test for the coronavirus confirmed the worst — it had started attacking her lungs.

“Everything seemed to be OK. She was stable until the day she passed,” Sergio Garcia said.

No I love you’s, goodbyes

The last time Lisa Garcia spoke to her mother, she explained to her that doctors would sedate her to put her on a ventilator and under intubation.

“The last thing I said to her was ‘Hey mom, they think you have the COVID, but they are going to intubate you right away and clear your airways,” Lisa Garcia said. “I didn’t get to say I love you or anything like that to her.”

On April 11, Garcia-Rodelo suffered cardiac arrest, and staff admitted a few family members who were able to see her lying on a hospital bed through a small window in the door of the room.

“There was no contact, no final words, no I love you,” Sergio Garcia said.

After about two weeks of fighting for her life, Garcia-Rodelo died the following day on Easter Sunday.

Though her life had ended, the coronavirus lingered, and Garcia-Rodelo’s body still had to be buried. Staff at the funeral agency told the family they would have to wait two weeks before they could process her body.

So, they chose to bury her the day after her birthday, May 8.

Then the Garcias learned more bad news.

There could be only 10 people at the funeral.

“You’d think that at least we can give her the funeral she deserves with all the people that love her to say goodbye,” Lisa Garcia said. “She has seven kids; that alone is the whole funeral.”

Dedication to family

Garcia-Rodelo’s dedication to her family created her children’s happiest memories.

When the children were younger, she would walk them to school every morning, and when classes ended for the day, she was the first parent to arrive. As her children grew, she was there every step of the way. When Lisa Garcia gave birth to her son about two years ago, Garcia-Rodelo helped deliver him and wouldn’t leave her side until Lisa Garcia was discharged.

Rodelo-Garcia is survived by her husband, David; her seven children, Sergio; Misael, 27; Lisa; Pamela, 24; Eleazar, 22; Eliseo, 20; Rutilio, 18; and three grandchildren, Maya Victoria Garcia, 11; Levi Kenta Koch, 1, and Emmy Veronica Garcia, 1.

Lisa Garcia’s advice to others during the pandemic is to treat the coronavirus seriously.

“People need to stop taking this as a joke,” she said. “For a lot of people, it’s not going to matter until you lose a loved one and you’re going to regret going out and having little social gatherings. People are dying and this is real. Just stay home.”

Contact Alex Chhith at achhith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0290. Follow @alexchhith on Twitter.