PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Thousands of Pennsylvanians are grieving the loss of loved ones who died from COVID-19. To honor them, 860 empty chairs lined the lawn of Independence Mall on Friday, representing the more than 8,600 Pennsylvanians who have died to date during the pandemic.
“The idea is to have a visual representation of the scale of loss that we’ve had,” explained Christopher Kocher, executive director of COVID Survivors for Change.
Grieving family members came together to share stories of their relatives, like Bari Himes, who lost her mother, Rose Phillips, to COVID-19.
“There were only 10 people allowed to attend her funeral, and I ask you, can you imagine having to decide who the 10 most important people are to pay homage to a life?” she said. “My own rabbi did not attend the funeral and performed the ceremony remotely to allow for an extra attendee at the service.”
Carol Lewis and her siblings lost their dad, Hiram Green, a proud Army vet. He contracted the virus at his Allentown long-term care facility.
She remembered how he always used to answer her phone calls with, “Hello, where are you?”
“I want to tell him, Dad, I am in Philadelphia to honor you and to tell the world how special you are and how much I love and I miss you.”
Liz Feeney and her sister had to break the news to their mother that their father didn’t make it.
“I will not forget the most agonizing cry that my mom let out as she told us that she wanted to die herself.”
They were together for 51 years.
“Grief is the price to pay for unwavering love, and often times my mom’s grief is even more for me to bear than my own.”
“That’s part of why we wanted to have this remembrance event,” added Kocher, “because we wanted to have people hear the stories, the way they have broken my heart, but also maybe angry that our leaders are not doing more.”
Also on Friday, the state experienced the largest single-day coronavirus surge since the pandemic began. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported more than 2,200 new cases.