My husband died of COVID-19 and I have just one plea to make of you [View all]

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https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/10/my-husband-died-of-covid-19-and-i-have-just-one-plea-of-you-opinion.html

My husband died of COVID-19 and I have just one plea to make of you | Opinion
Updated Oct 19, 2020; Posted Oct 18, 2020
By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist
By Alice Roberts


After catching COVID-19 that required a brief stay in the hospital, President Trump blithely said, “Don’t let it take over your lives.”

It’s much too late for that, of course. For my family and me, it took over our lives when it took my husband, Rob.

Rob was a beloved police officer and likely contracted COVID-19 while working an overtime shift, like he often did, to help support our family of three kids, two geckos, a dog, a cat and two hamsters. Many shifts were open in his department because his colleagues were becoming sick with the virus. By April, eight of them tested positive out of a department of about 24 people.

Rob’s first COVID-19 test was mislabeled, and the second one took too long to come back. When he collapsed at our home, we still did not know he had it. His coworkers rushed to our house and resuscitated him, risking their own lives to save his. In the hospital, a talented team of doctors and nurses gave him powerful drugs, and he recovered from the virus. However, Rob’s brain never rebounded from the lack of oxygen from when he collapsed.

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As our collective losses continue to pile up, what has President Trump lost? Nothing. At least not yet. My hope is that he loses this election.

Before this year, I never made too many pleas in life. But I have made plenty these past several months. First, a plea for my husband’s life. Then, a plea for my kids to have a semblance of normalcy.

Now, I have one for anybody who supports President Trump or for voters who are still on the fence. I plead with you to remember his lack of action after learning the true dangers of the virus in January. Consider the long-term consequences that his failed pandemic response has had on first responders, doctors, nurses, workers, students, teachers, and families. Think of how much more we still stand to lose if we re-elect President Trump who, time and again, has shown us who he is, mask off.

It’s too late to prevent this virus from taking over our lives at this moment. But we still have time to make sure it doesn’t define our future if we stand together in this election and vote out President Trump.

Alice Roberts is the widow of Charles “Rob” Roberts who died from COVID-19 at the age of 45. Mr. Roberts' death was the first line of duty death in the Glen Ridge Police Department’s history.