Family grateful to be together despite losing home after COVID hospitalization

Daniel would very much like to tell you about his interests, if he can sit still long enough. As the 4-year-old bundle of energy bounces from his siblings to parents to grandparents, chewing an apple and showing off his ninja moves, his mom recounts what his big wish this year has been.

“I want to go home.”

For the last several months, Daniel, his parents Ana and Mario, and older siblings Victoria, Monica and Omar have been living with Ana’s parents in their three-bedroom home on the city’s Southside. Eight people makes a tight squeeze, but both are incredibly grateful to have the option to be with family.

In March of this year, the entire family caught COVID-19. Since the pandemic began in 2020, the family remained cautious. They did curbside pickups at the store, everyone stayed home and did virtual schooling when available, and the only visiting they did in person was to Ana’s parents in their home.

But that’s all it took. A relative visited Ana’s parents, and the next day began feeling ill — after the rest of the family had already come to visit.

“It was a domino effect,” Ana said. “Everyone got it.” Ana was incredibly worried for her elderly parents, especially her father, who is blind and has diabetes. She didn’t know that her parents would be spared the worst of it. All the kids became ill, and Ana was hospitalized for a week with her symptoms.

But Mario was hit the worst, ending up in the hospital for four months total. The most terrifying part was the phone call Ana received early one Sunday morning from a visiting doctor, telling her Mario would die within hours. Mario credits the nursing staff with keeping him alive. He came home briefly, then was back in the hospital when his oxygen levels dropped into the 40s and doctors found he had a saddle pulmonary embolism.

While the family was so sick and not working, they fell behind on their rent. Ana worked tirelessly with county social services and their landlord, trying to gather enough money to catch up on back payments. Ana and Mario even made court appearances via Zoom from Mario’s hospital room to try to settle the rent problems.

“I exhausted all resources trying to stay in our house,” Ana said.

But nothing worked and the landlord asked the family to leave, while also raising the rent.

Even though the family is in the smaller space, the kids “are real troopers, considering everything they’ve gone through,” Ana said.

Daniel enjoys having so many adults around to play games with, and who will watch “Big City Greens” and Spider-Man cartoons with him.

Monica, 9, likes the fourth grade at her new elementary school. Reading is her best subject, she said, and she likes variety. “Sometimes I like big books, sometimes little books,” she shared. “I like to read scary books, sometimes funny books.” They had a big library at their old house, but couldn’t bring it to the new home. She especially misses a book about unicorns, since those are her favorite.

Older sister Victoria, 12, attends the nearby middle school, where she has joined band and plays the flute. She enjoys watching suspense/horror anime on Netflix, but her eyes light up especially when talking about shows about ghost hunters and true haunting stories.

Omar is the oldest at 16 and in high school. He would love to be an author — a comic book author, to be specific. He enjoys all the Marvel and DC comics, along with video games.

The children represent thousands who will be helped by the Caller-Times Children's Christmas Appeal. The names of the families profiled have been changed to protect their privacy.

Since 1973, the Caller-Times has reported the struggle of needy children and their families during the holiday season. All the money donated to the Christmas Appeal campaign benefits the children; all overhead costs are borne by the Caller-Times, United Way of the Coastal Bend and participating agencies. This year, the Nueces County Record Star and the Alice Echo-News Journal joined the campaign.

Participating agencies include Boys & Girls Club of Alice, Duval County Christmas Committee, the Kleberg County Welfare Department, Nueces County Department of Social Services, the Odyssey After School Enrichment Program in Rockport, Sinton for Youth Inc. and the Purple Door.

Despite the loss of their home, they are incredibly grateful for what they have: close family and friends who brought food and medicine when the family was sick, making sure everyone was cared for. They also have a greater appreciation for good health.

“The people who say ‘flu-like,’ no, it’s so much worse. Not being able to breathe?” said Mario, who is still experiencing long-term symptoms of COVID and is on supplemental oxygen at home. “We take it for granted, just breathing.”

“But everyone survived. Not everyone is making it,” Grandma Rosa said. “We have angels, everywhere.”

HOW TO DONATE

Here are three ways to help:

*Fill out the donation form on Page 2A. Make your check or money order payable to Children’s Christmas Appeal and mail to: United Way of Coastal Bend, 4659 Everhart Road, Corpus Christi, TX, 78411 (designate funds to Children's Christmas Appeal)

*Donate online at www.uwcb.org. Look for the Christmas Appeal logo.

*Text ChristmasAppeal (no spaces) to 41444 to make a donation.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Family grateful to be together despite losing home after hospital stay