A Texas couple that hesitated to get the COVID-19 vaccine passed away after contracting the virus.
A GoFundMe was initially set up for Lawrence and Lydia Rodriguez to cover hospital expenses.
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After their deaths, the campaign has been raising money for the late couple's four children: 18-year-old twins Nathan and Ethan, son Adam, 16, and daughter Synphonia, 11.
The donation page, created by Lydia's cousin, Dottie Jones, noted that the couple came down with COVID in July.
"Lydia was immediately admitted to the ICU where she had to be placed on a ventilator," the page wrote.
Lawrence was placed on oxygen and started doing better before he "took a turn for the worse and had to be transferred to the same ICU where Lydia is being cared for."
They were deemed in critical condition with their chances of survival considered "low."
Lawrence passed away due to complications from the disease on August 2. In his obituary, he is said to have served his church as a Deacon and Children's Minister and is described as having a passion for music.
Lydia died shortly after on August 14, the page noted.
Jones told the Galveston News that the family took COVID seriously.
"They weren't careless," Jones said, adding, "They quarantined. They masked. But they didn't get the vaccine."
Jones told KTRK that the couple decided not to get the vaccine due to "misinformation."
"They didn't believe in vaccines," said Jones. "You try to talk to them, and she just didn't like that. Didn't trust it, I guess."
"It just breaks my heart that people are believing the misinformation that's out there," she said, adding, "The misinformation is killing people, and we need to get the truth out there."
"It was the misinformation that was out there that led them to that choice," Jones reiterated to Galveston News. "That just shows how strong that false narrative can impact people. What a high price they can pay."
Jones said that Lydia changed her mind about the vaccine once in the ICU, but doctors told her it was too late.
She revealed that her cousin's final wish was that her children get vaccinated.
"Before she got intubated, one of the last things she told her sister was 'Please make sure my children get vaccinated,'" she told KTRK. "She would be there for her kids right now if she had been vaccinated," she added.
"This is really happening in our family, and it is the true story of what can happen. I am not trying to scare people. I just want people to understand this virus is real, and this Delta variant is more brutal than anything we've seen," Jones continued.
"Our hearts are just broken," she added. "We hurt for the kids."
Jones hopes that by sharing her cousin's story will encourage people to get the vaccine.
According to the obituary, "a celebration of life honoring Law and his wife, Lydia, will be held at Texas Avenue Community Church on a later date."
The GoFundMe has raised over $74,000 out of the $80,000 goal.
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