“It’s very shocking and I’m still trying to process it, and I’m still trying to understand why,” Valerie Levario said.
Valerie’s father, 53, Fabian “Chino” Levario, worked as an independent handyman and played for 20 years in a Long Beach band.
“That was her passion: playing music and being with her family,” Valerie said.
Fabian, who underwent a kidney transplant 16 years ago, never revealed his illness until he entered the hospital on November 23rd.
“He had a hard time breathing. He had a hard time talking,” Valerie said.
It would test positive for COVID-19.
Just over two weeks later he died.
Valerie says that while planning her funeral, Fabian’s sister, Deborah, fell ill with pneumonia.
“I had my grandmother call 911 to take her to the hospital just in case,” Valerie said.
Valerie says a blood test found COVID antibodies, suggesting Deborah had also been infected. He later died.
Six days later, Deborah’s husband, Armando Padilla, whom Valerie says had no underlying health conditions, would die of the virus.
Family members had to tell Armando Jr., eight, that he lost both his father and mother.
“He sat there, looked at her, and said,‘ My mother is in my heart. I know he will not return home. It is in my heart now and I will always have it in my heart. “
Valerie says they were careful. They didn’t get together and always wore masks, but it’s unclear how they contracted the virus.
Valerie’s message: She wears a mask and takes the virus seriously.
“Don’t be selfish. People die for it and it’s not fair,” he said.
GoFundMe pages have been created to help pay for three cremations and create a trust fund for Armando Jr., whose grandmother is now being cared for.
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