Calif. Dad Dies of COVID 2 Weeks After Wife's Death, Leaving Behind 5 Kids Including Newborn
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The husband of Davy Macias, a 37-year-old nurse from California who died last month after contracting COVID-19 while pregnant, has also "lost his fight" with the respiratory virus, according to his family.
Daniel Macias, 39, died on Thursday, exactly two weeks after Davy died on Aug. 26, his sister-in-law Terri Serey announced in an update shared to a GoFundMe campaign set up in support of the family.
The couple leave behind five children under the age of 8, including a newborn baby girl Davy delivered while intubated but never got the chance to meet, family members said on the fundraiser's page.
"It's absolutely heartbreaking," Terri told KTLA. "We were really pulling for Daniel after Davy died. We wanted him to wake up and name his baby girl."
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Davy was seven months pregnant when she was hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the family's GoFundMe. Daniel, a teacher at a local middle school, soon followed her to the intensive care unit and both were listed as critical condition "due to the Delta variant," the page said.
Terri told The Washington Post that Davy did not get vaccinated because she was pregnant. It's unclear if Daniel was vaccinated, though the father of five was encouraging others to get the vaccine before he was intubated, according to Davy's brother Vong Serey.
"I did change my mind," Vong told KTLA of his personal stance on the vaccine. "When it hits this close to home, it does, it really affects you. It opens your eyes."
RELATED VIDEO: Unvaccinated TikToker Who Died of COVID Spent Last Days Urging Followers to Get the Vaccine
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that those who are pregnant get vaccinated, as they are "more likely to get severely ill with COVID-19 compared with non-pregnant people," their website says.
As of Monday, 53 percent of the United States populace have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from CDC, while 63 percent have received at least one dose.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the CDC, WHO and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
