Vanessa Gonzalez died just a month after giving birth to her third child. And because she’d tested positive for COVID-19 just days before giving birth, she was never able to even hold her newborn.
Gonzalez gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She and her husband Alfonso named the baby Heaven.
When Gonzalez was finally released from the hospital and was able to return to her Whittier, California home, she was forced to quarantine away from her husband, her two sons, and her newborn baby.
“I was, like, ‘We have to separate you guys. You have to be separated. I know you want to see the baby. We’ll FaceTime! We’ll FaceTime with the baby,’” Alfonso Gonzalez told NBCLA.
So, Vanessa stayed in one room and using an iPhone, she was able to see her infant daughter.
Alfonso says it was heartbreaking for his wife not to be able to hold their daughter.
The family was determined to wait until Vanessa had recovered and then they could all be together. Sadly, that day never came.
Only two days after leaving the hospital, Vanessa had a heart attack related to the virus. She was transported to UCLA Medical Center where she stayed for nearly a month and then passed away.
Friends and family at the couple’s church created a GoFundMe page to help with mounting hospital bills and Vanessa’s funeral. “So they can give her the proper celebration of life service, you know, that she deserves,” Desiree Vera, a family friends tells NBCLA.
Alfonso says he hopes his wife is watching him from up above and saying, "good job. Good job. I'll see you soon."
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