COVID-19 CLAIMS A YOUNG MOTHER

Our beloved sister, wife, and, mother Nkem Grace Jacob-Ogbede lost her battle with covid-19 unexpectedly last week after giving birth to her son Vincent Ogbede. The birth of baby Vincent was something our sister Nkem had longed for a very long time. Anyone who knew her knows that her biggest life's desire was to be a mother and she would have made an amazing mother. Our sister never got the opportunity to experience all the beautiful moments she was dreaming of. She will never get to hear his first words, see his first smile or hear his cooing like all new mothers do. COVID-19 with its cruel and unrelentless form has quickly, unapologetically, and heartbreakingly taken our beautiful sister days after she had her baby. It has shattered what was supposed to be a young family of 3 and has left behind a single father with a baby to raise.

 

Our brother Innocent has not only lost the love of his life but also the mother to their newborn baby. His wife's loss leaves behind a heartache too much to bear alone. Our brother Innocent is going to need a village to rally around him to offer all the support that we can. He works as a nurse helping covid patients and it's very tragic that covid has taken the love of his life. Nkem and Innocent are both natives of Nigeria with few family here.

 

We hope you will join us in supporting the Ogbede family with such a tragic loss be. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated in any form, time, money or any baby supplies.

 

When someone you love dies, and you're not expecting it, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time - the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes - when there's a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she's gone, forever - there comes another day, and another specifically missing part."

• John Irving