A Georgia mom is requesting others to get vaccinated after her beloved daughter passed away of COVID-19 complications â and tragically before she got the chance to hold her new baby.
According to ABC affiliate WSB-TV, Marrisha “ReRe” Kindred Jenkins died on September 23, just two weeks following to giving birth to her third child, son Jaylen.
The news came as a shock to Marrisha’s family, who believed the 27-year-old mom was doing a lot better after being hospitalized for COVID-19 and pneumonia earlier in the month, the outlet reported.
“She said, ‘Mom, they said my lungs are clear,’ and they sent her home,” Marrisha’s mom, Helena Kindred, recalled to reporters. “We said she has some issues but I wasn’t expecting what happened to her.”
According to a GoFundMe page that was set up on Marrisha’s behalf because she did not have any insurance, the Georgia woman was diagnosed with COVID and pneumonia on September 4.
At the time, Marrisha was eight months pregnant and due to give birth in October, the fundraiser states. However, due to her condition, Marrisha gave birth early and welcomed her son on Sept. 7, per the GoFundMe. Though Jaylen was healthy at the time of his premature birth, he was quickly put into quarantine right after his birth as a precaution, WSB-TV reported.
In the meantime, Marrisha started showing signs of improvement and the hospital released her to go home, according to the GoFundMe. Things got worse on September 19, when Marrisha and her husband Myles Jenkins were preparing to see their son for the first time.
“As she started getting ready, she [was] having a hard time breathing,” the GoFundMe reads. “She went to take a bath, and they heard a noise. When they checked on her, she had a weak pulse.”
According to the fundraiser, Myles had immediately called 911 and began administering CPR, but “Marrisha coded on the way to the hospital and upon arrival,”. Once inside the hospital, Marrisha was placed on life support, but her mother said that it was too late.
“At that time, with no oxygen to the brain, it caused severe damage,” she explained to the outlet, adding that they prayed for a miracle but eventually had to make the difficult decision to take Jenkins off life support. “If she had been vaccinated, I truly believe she would not have died,” Kindred said.
In the wake of her death, the GoFundMe page will now help Myles, Jaylen and Marrisha’s other two kids, Rylee, 6, and Ayden, 5.
“We truly appreciate the love you guys had for Marrisha ‘ReRe’ Kindred Jenkins,” reads the fundraiser, which has brought in over $10,000 in donations. “She will be truly missed.”