Sundee Rutter, cancer survivor took the burden of raising her six kids alone after the death of the father eight years ago. Her Six children were forced to say goodbye to their mother over walkie-talkie as they watched her die of coronavirus...
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Photo was taken from Facebook by Toofab magazine
The 42-year-old mum, who was among the first wave of people in
Washington State to be diagnosed with COVID-19, yielded to the virus on March
16th and left behind 6 children alone in this cruel world.
The single mom-of-six had survived breast cancer, and
had been left to raise the kids alone after their father died in 2012
Her son Elijah Ross-Rutter during an interview with Buzzfeed magazine reported that she had taken herself to
Providence Regional Medical Center -- where the very first confirmed case of
novel coronavirus was treated -- on March 3rd.
"She thought she had the flu, probably," the
20-year-old son stated. "But like, the coronavirus? It was kind of hard
for us to understand how she could get it because not that many people had it
around here."
Back then, the state was reporting just 27 cases and
nine deaths. Today, those numbers stood at 7,984 and 338, respectively.
The 6 children were sent home after spending eight
hours inside a sealed room with doctors and nurses wearing full protective
gear, "They don't even want to touch my mom," Elijah said.
Yet, four days later they had to take their mom back.
This time the family had to stay in the visitors waiting area, while doctors
confirmed she'd have to be kept in overnight and treated for pneumonia. The
next day she tested positive for pandemic.
The situation this time was different from her
year-long cancer battle, the family were not allowed in her hospital room. The
fourth-oldest child, named Elijah said that for a while she was able to text
back; but after a while the responses turned to emojis only. "She was
sending me hearts on the messages but she wasn't replying," he stated.
On March 16th, doctors called the family to
tell them they needed to come to the hospital.
Sundee's sister and her mom as well as her six
siblings, all said their goodbyes over one walkie-talkie, while the other was
propped up on a pillow inside the sealed room.
"I told her I love her ... she shouldn't worry
about the kids," Elijah said.
Their mother died that afternoon.
The 42-year-old mother is just one of the 9,624 people in the US who
have now died of COVID-19, as the number of cases here swiftly approaches 350,000.
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