Families mourn the loss of loved ones who hesitated on the Covid-19 vaccine
During that call, however, his heart stopped again. Lewis Jr. described hearing a chaotic scene in the background before the doctor quickly hung up.
“The panic is starting,” said Lewis, Jr., recalling the horrifying moment. “The tears are forming.”
Half an hour later, the doctor called back with the devastating news. Mike Lewis — a towering man known as a protector and the life of any party — had died at 58, just four days after being diagnosed with Covid.
“I lost a piece of myself,” said Lewis Jr.
Mike Lewis Jr. says neither he nor his dad had made getting the vaccine a priority. His father’s death last month, he says, has changed his outlook.
The elder Lewis, who was known as “Big Mike” among friends, exercised and drank protein shakes every day before heading off to his job as head of security at the Floridian Social Club in St. Petersburg, where he’d worked for 30 years.
He was an icon in the city’s nightlife. His son said people would go to the club just to talk to Lewis outside and listen to his stories. On “teen” nights, Lewis required proof that students had finished their homework before he allowed them inside.
“You got to do what’s necessary to make sure you make it out of these times,” he said. “Because my dad’s gone.”
An old-school tent revival
The Rev. R. B. Holmes Jr. speaks at a tent revival hosted by his church, Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, in Tallahassee, Florida, where they’re also offering vaccinations. “Last year this time, we did not have a vaccine,” he said. “I owe it to them to encourage us to make sure no one else will die.”
The word-of-mouth approach from trusted voices can be powerful, said the Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., a prominent pastor who leads the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida. This spring, his church invested in a mobile medical unit to make health care more accessible in his community.
Last week, they held an old-school tent revival not only for spiritual healing but to combat vaccine hesitancy. Nurses were on site with the mobile unit to administer shots.
“We’ve got to tell folks the truth, that you have two options: to take the vaccine or to take your chances with Covid-19,” Holmes said.
On stage, standing beneath a blue and white striped tent, Holmes sought to tackle the political division that has defined much of the pandemic. “This no Democrat disease. This no Republican disease,” Holmes said, wiping his head in the 90-degree heat. “This is a virus.”
“If we get enough people vaccinated, we’re gonna be all right,” he said to nodding heads and mentions of “amen” in the crowd.
Margelet Hamilton, a math professor at Tallahassee Community College, sings in the church choir and decided to get vaccinated during revival week.
Holmes told CNN that if they could vaccinate even just five or 10 people during the revival, they would consider it a major success. “Because we can say we saved lives, and now they’re gonna go in and hug grandmama, go to Florida State football games, basketball games, and come back to church.”
At the four-day revival, the church vaccinated 18 people.
Regrets about having waited
Michele and Darryl Preissler were set to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary this year, and they were making retirement plans.
The 63-year-old construction contractor, avid outdoorsman and beloved grandfather went to a wedding in April and started feeling sick a week later. Within a few days, he was admitted and would spend close to a month in the hospital before losing his battle with Covid on May 22.
Michele Preissler described the monthlong illness as a “roller-coaster ride from hell,” with several moments when Darryl’s condition improved, only to deteriorate again. He ultimately had a major stroke and was taken off life support.
Michele was told he would live three to five minutes without the machines, but he ended up living — though unconscious — for nearly 24 hours. His heart simply kept beating.
“I would never like to relive that,” she said, referring to his overall fight with the virus. “And I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
While Michele — who works in the medical field — got her vaccine in March, she said her husband got busy with work and she regrets not scheduling an appointment for him. “He wasn’t stopping to do it for himself. I was gonna have to do it. And now I’m mad I didn’t. And I can’t change that.”
Michele Preissler thumbs through her husband’s funeral book.
The couple was set to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary later this year, and they were looking forward to retirement plans, especially traveling with their new camper.
Michele grew tearful while reading handwritten messages in his funeral book. “I don’t have a normal now,” she said, flipping through the pages. “My normal is gone.”
A survivor’s words of warning
“I didn’t want to be the guinea pig,” said Garza. “I was just opposed to it.”
Josh Garza says the vaccine would have spared him the ordeal of a long stay at the hospital, where he came close to death.
But earlier this year, Garza was diagnosed with Covid-19 and the virus quickly took over his body. Garza would spend four months at Houston Methodist Hospital fighting for his life.
Doctors say Garza developed Covid-19 pneumonia and the virus triggered severe inflammation that caused irreversible lung tissue damage. But his case was so severe that not even a ventilator or high-flow oxygen machines could help him.
On X-ray scans, Garza’s lungs were barely visible, hidden by the cloudy image reflecting the virus infecting his chest. Garza says he was days away from dying until he was able to receive a double lung transplant in April.
Josh Garza attends a follow-up procedure at Houston Methodist after undergoing a double lung transplant to survive Covid-19.
Garza said he battles feelings of anger with himself for not getting vaccinated but said he’s also grateful he’s alive to tell others his story. The memory of seeing the dead bodies of Covid patients being moved past his hospital room keep flashing in Garza’s mind.
“If could do it all over again, I’d get it,” Garza said, referring to the vaccine. “No doubt. What I went through is probably the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Garza is now recovering from the lung transplant operation and says he’s feeling much better. He’s reunited at home with his family and said he hopes his experience will persuade others who are opposed to getting vaccinated to change their minds.
“Think about your family. Because what I went through, I had to put my family through, also,” said Garza. “I wish people would at least reconsider, or at least listen to what we went through, and hopefully you never have to go through that — ever.”
