By Hannah Keller Flanery
Marketing Specialist, White River Health System
Ashley Acosta (pictured above) vividly remembers July 26, 2020. It was the last time she gathered with her whole family for a family event.
Acosta’s grandmother, Maria Bynum, contracted COVID-19 two weeks after the gathering. Three days following her grandmother’s diagnosis, Acosta’s father, James Acosta, was diagnosed with the disease.
“By my birthday on August 17, about six of my family members had COVID-19,” Acosta said. “Both my father and my grandmother were admitted to the COVID unit that week.”
When thinking of her father, Acosta said it is impossible not to recall his smile.
“He had an unforgettable smile,” she said. “I miss talking to him every day and just hearing his voice. My kids miss their papa. He was always taking them to do things to have fun.”
Acosta said her grandmother and father moved to Arkansas from California before she was born. Her father worked at Flowers Baking Company for eight years. Her grandmother was an active volunteer and advocate for the local Hispanic community.
“She would help people in the community anyway she could,” she said. “She would translate for the obstetrics department at the hospital and for Dr. Carlton. She took care of a special needs child and helped get children into school. My grandma was an angel.”
Acosta, a registered nurse in the adult psychiatric unit at White River Medical Center, said her grandmother’s condition deteriorated rapidly after her diagnosis. “My father had to say goodbye to his mom over Facetime the day before his birthday,” she said. “She passed away September 3.”
Sadly, her father’s condition continued to decline, and he was put on a ventilator Sept. 8, 2020.
“They wanted to intubate him earlier; however, because it was his birthday, they waited,” Acosta said. “He turned 55 in the ICU.”
Acosta said her father had a triple bypass a few years prior; however, he was in good health at the time he became ill with COVID-19.
“He took care of himself,” she said. “He was a diabetic, and he stayed on top of his sugars. He went to the gym. He never smoked.”
Acosta said her father shared the frightening reality of the disease through text messages to the family.
“I have text messages from him about how scary it was and how many panic attacks he was having from seeing people crashing around him. He said, ‘This is nothing to play about.’”
A few days after her father was intubated, physicians told Acosta that because of the damage and scarring of her father’s lungs, there was a less than 1 percent chance he would survive. “I didn’t believe them,” she said. “I knew my dad was a fighter. He lasted three more weeks.”
Acosta lost her father 26 days after her grandmother passed away.
In December, she received the COVID-19 vaccine in honor of her father and grandmother.
“I also wanted to protect my children. I’m a mother of three. After my father passed away, my son cried and told me his biggest fear was losing me,” she said. “I encourage everyone to get vaccinated. People are dying every day from this disease, and it’s our responsibility to take control and protect those we love. It doesn’t look like this is going away any time soon.”
If you have yet to be immunized against COVID-19, White River Now urges you to talk to your trusted local physician or pharmacist about the COVID-19 vaccine.
For COVID-19 information from the Arkansas Department of Health, click here.
For information from local physicians about COVID-19 vaccines, click here.
Get up-to-date local and regional news along with the latest sports and weather every weekday morning and afternoon from the First Community Bank Newsroom on Arkansas 103.3. White River Now updates are also aired weekday mornings on 93 KZLE, Outlaw 106.5, and Your FM 99.5. Have a news tip or event to promote? Email White River Now at news@whiterivernow.com. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget to download the White River Now mobile app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
