Unvaccinated Missouri mother of 3 dies of COVID. Now her mom urges others to get a shot
Kimberle Jones could only watch her daughter’s decline, her 50-day descent toward death.
Fifty days of hospitals, invasive machines and desperate treatments, each failing to save her from the damage COVID-19 wreaked on her body, Jones told KMOV.
“I just watched my baby slipping away every day,” she said.
Then on July 4th, the struggle ended. Erica Thompson died. She was 37 years old, a mother to three children, KTVI reported.
She was unvaccinated, Jones told the news station, she didn’t trust it.
To Jones, the lesson here is clear, and she’s sharing it with everyone she can.
“I really do believe had she been vaccinated she’d still be here with me today,” Jones told KMOV.
In hospital within days
In mid-May, Thompson began feeling ill, KMOV reported. As someone with asthma, Thompson just thought her condition was acting up — but she tested positive for COVID-19 and a few days later was admitted to a St. Louis area hospital.
Thompson’s mother described her as “energetic” and “upbeat,” the outlet reported.
By the end, Jones could hardly recognize her daughter, she told ABC News.
“She developed a lot of infections, blood clots, her kidneys started shutting down,” Jones said. “Her skin got real dark. It was just heartbreaking to watch her body not respond to any medication. I just felt like my daughter, it wasn’t even her.”
Now preparing for her funeral, Jones is pained not only by the loss of a child, but by memories of her final days, spent in fear and agony, Jones told the station.
“She cried and cried and said ‘I want to live,’ ” Jones remembers.
‘Don’t be selfish,’ grieving mom says
It all could have been avoided, Jones told ABC. Her daughter “adamantly didn’t believe” in any COVID vaccines, doubted she would ever catch the coronavirus, so she never got the shot.
It’s a mistake Jones doesn’t want anyone else to make.
“Don’t be selfish. Get vaccinated because it’s not only showing you love yourself, you love your community ... your neighbors, your employers, your co-workers,” she told ABC. “That’s my prayer. I want everybody to get vaccinated.”
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