Sarah Simental’s parents said she had no other health issues and yet the virus took her life at such a young age.
“She called me crying to say it, you know, ‘Mom, I’m going to miss Christmas.’ with you. “… unfortunately he didn’t,” said his mother, Deborah Simental.
COVID-19 killed the high school senior in a matter of days. Her mother said Sarah’s headache turned into a sore throat and the body pain occurred on December 23rd. It was enough to take her daughter to the hospital.
RELATED: The couple dies of COVID days before Christmas after a short family visit
His mother said Simental had no health issues and was not taking any medication. But as his symptoms worsened, doctors transferred the sick teen to the University of Chicago hospital.
His family said that was when things got worse quickly.
“I have no words to do it. I can’t believe the speed he advanced,” his father, Don Simental, said.
“Literally, she just ate it,” her mother added. “And no father should ever have to watch his son go through this.”
Her only moment of peace – wrapped in unimaginable agony – was to be by her daughter’s bedside as she passed.
“She said, ‘I’ll be fine, Mom.’ And that was the last one,” Deborah Simental said. “So I know she knows, we’ll all be fine in the end.
Sarah would have graduated from Lincoln Way East High School in a few months. He had dreams of caring for animals: a sign of compassion that his family members say they will miss the most.
“I’m thinking I’m going to miss some real milestones that every mother wants to have with her daughter,” Deborah Simental said.
Copyright © 2020 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.