During a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, one Louisiana family quickly had their paradise become a nightmare when three members on the trip tested positive for COVID-19 before making a return to Baton Rouge.
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Current air travel restrictions do not allow passengers to fly to the United States without a negative COVID-19 test. This forced Yolanda Comager to leave her husband David and two of their three daughters in Mexico, WBRZ reported.
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Comager flew home with one of their daughters to Baton Rouge, trying to find a way to bring them all home.
"I just want to get my husband back over here," she said to WBRZ.
However, David's condition quickly got worse as he was taken to a hospital in Mexico and placed on oxygen. To make matters worse, the insurance company Comager has, Blue Cross Blue Shield Core, did not cover the costs for the medical treatment.
"They charged him $3,700 to treat him on oxygen for 24 hours," Comager said.
Then, while back in Louisiana figuring out what she could do, Comager received a call from her husband about what he was facing.
"He called me in tears because he said that the hospital was refusing to treat him, and they kicked him out of the hospital because he didn't have $12,000 to continue treatments," she said.
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While a person needs a negative test to fly into the U.S., you do not need one to travel by land, and after finding this out, Comager booked her husband and daughter a bus to El Paso, Texas. Once the tickets were booked, she hopped into her car and drove by herself to Texas to pick them up, WBRZ reported.
However, things continued to fight against them as her husband's condition worsened while on the bus.
"I was here two hours ahead of them, and then I got a phone call from my daughter saying that my husband was on the bus and he could not breathe," Comager said.
David was taken to another hospital in Chihuahua, Mexico, just hours from the border. On Monday, Comager talked to him for the last time, as he was intubated to help stabilize him.
She shared that he told her he was scared in a country where he didn't know the language and just wanted to come home.
"He said, I don't know what's going to happen, but I just need you to know that I love you,' and I said I love you, too."
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Comager, while in El Paso, tested positive for the virus, her second time getting it, and is now stuck in a hotel room in the city. Her other daughter in Baton Rouge has also tested positive, while the two daughters who were with her husband have tested negative and since returned home.
Finally, Comager was able to get her husband back to the U.S. on Aug. 14 after reaching out to the U.S. Consulate and Louisiana senators.
David was flown from Mexico to Oschner to New Orleans, and while he is on a ventilator, he is stable.
Comager will be driving back to Baton Rouge soon, but because their insurance did not cover the cost of his care, she estimated that they spent at least $15,000 out of pocket.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with the costs to save David's life.