On January 16th, 2021 at 5:10pm, my daddy lost his battle with COVID-19, but I gained the most precious guardian angel. Before contracting COVID, he was full of life, strength, and radiated so much light. The absolute best dad my brother and I could ever ask for, an amazing son, brother and friend, as well as an extremely dedicated worker. His battle with COVID began on Nov. 30th, 2020. After about 8 days with a mid to high-grade fever, he became short of breath and with low oxygen levels, which subsequently led to him being hospitalized on December 12th. He was diagnosed with COVID Pneumonia and began what the hospital called the "COVID treatment pack." In addition to the steroids, antibiotics, etc., he was given plasma. He was on 50L of oxygen (the max) and his O2 levels were holding in the 90's, but even walking to the chair next to his hospital bed would quickly drop his levels to the mid to low 80's. The doctors often told me he was headed in the right direction; They were slowly decreasing his oxygen requirement and he was holding his own. On Dec. 24th we talked and he was notably short of breath, which we made out to be a bad day, but at 3:16am on Christmas morning I received the second worst call of my life- his oxygen levels dropped and nothing would help, so he was intubated and put on a ventilator. Being intubated was my dad's absolute biggest fear and the only reason he did not sign a DNI was because he knew he had to fight to stay with my brother and I. At around 11am on Christmas, I spoke with the ICU doctor and was told he had went into cardiac arrest at around 2am and was revived after 5 minutes. They also said he was in septic shock, had bilateral pneumonia, and his organs were shutting down due to the lack of oxygen when his heart stopped. My dad spent the next 3 weeks fighting for his life like the warrior he always has been. As I was now in charge of his medical decisions, I spent the those weeks on regular calls with the hospital. He had to be put on dialysis due to low kidney function, as well as constant medication to help his liver regenerate itself. He was very sick, but holding his own. About a week & a half into his intubation, I was told he was off the paralytics, was putting in some of the work to breathe on his own, & they saw improvement in his lungs. We thought he had reached a turning point and would soon be woken up. We were very wrong. His lung improvement stagnated and days later we were told he had a pneumothorax (puncture in the lung), which could lead to another cardiac arrest. Days later we were told his organs were shutting down at a very fast rate and due to severely scarred lungs, combined with the multi-system organ failure, they recommended I sign a DNR because he was actively dying and restarting his heart would only lead to worse damage to his whole body and would simply prolong his death. To say my family and I were heartbroken is a complete understatement. I made the decision I never thought I would need to and decided to give permission to change his code status to DNR. On Saturday, January 16th I received the worst call of my life and was told that the best thing to do was to disconnect him from the ventilator. He was on a ridiculous amount of vasopressors to keep his blood pressure even slightly acceptable and, ethically, they could not give him anymore. Basically, he was at a very high risk for his heart stopping. I decided to remove him from life support because I did not want to prolong his death and have him suffer more only because I was scared of him leaving me. Removing his life support has absolutely been the most difficult decision of my life to date. My immediate family and I were allowed in his hospital room to say our goodbyes and I was allowed to be there as they removed his life support. He was on a ventilator for 22 days. His heart withstood beating for only 2 minutes after being removed and he took his last breath with his princess by his side. I am forever grateful that he did not pass away alone and that I got to hold him as he went. I don't understand why it was his time to go, but he would often tell me: "when it's your time, it's your time, even if you get out of the way," and that is the one thing I am attempting to find solace in because if he could talk to me he would be saying "It was my time, it's okay." As much as I wish he were still on this earth with my brother and I, I know he has met up with his loved ones who passed before him and is now our most fierce and protective guardian angel. If he taught me anything, it's to be strong regardless of the situation. He is now my strength and my reason. Nonetheless, his passing was not something we were prepared for and we want to honor him in the best and most deserving way to truly appreciate who he was while on earth. We are taking his ashes to Mexico and he will be laid to rest in his beloved town of Orizaba. The expenses for this do add up and as previously mentioned, not something we were prepared for. My family and I would greatly appreciate any donations in order to transport him to Mexico, as well as to have a beautiful celebration of life for him when it is safe to do so. We are aiming for the Fall. Any additional donations would go directly towards my brother's college fund (he will be attending in 2 years). Since my daddy is no longer here to support my brother financially, I want to help my mom with as much as I can, as a recent college grad myself. Thank you for reading and if you are unable to donate, we would greatly appreciate you sharing!

Te amo papi, rest in eternal peace.