A New Jersey man is taking off from the loss of his wife, brother and two other relatives, all of whom died of COVID-19 while living with him, according to a report.
Ed Kemble Jr., 61, of Burlington County, wondered how his loved ones contracted the dreaded disease and hopes his tragic story will push others to follow all safety guidelines during the pandemic, he said. NJ.com.
“It could come from many different directions. It is invisible. You can’t see it, so you can’t know where it came from, ”Kemble Jr., a volunteer firefighter and truck driver, told reporters.
“People should be made aware (the virus) is there. People (should) keep their distance from each other and obey the rules everyone says,” Kemble added.
Earlier, Kemble’s diabetic woman, Barbara, was taken to a hospital in November, when she was suffering from dehydration from kidney problems, according to the report.
He was tested for coronavirus and diagnosed with the disease.
For the next two months, Kemble visited his nearly 40-year-old sick wife, leaving Mike Mike’s subs and iced tea, but without entering his room.
On January 16, Barbara died of a stroke.
“All of our lives were reflected around the fire company,” the grieving widower said of his wife, who was president of Delanco’s Washington Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary.
“Many times we were in the city park, playing and all that,” he told NJ.com. “(The coronavirus) contributed to his (health) problems. His cause of death was a stroke. “
In December, Kemble’s mother-in-law, Ruth Sharp Allen, was hospitalized after developing pneumonia and coughing. He also tested positive for COVID-19 and died on December 2 at the age of 89.
Kemble’s younger brother, John Daniel Kemble, who lost both legs due to diabetes, was taken to hospital because he needed emergency dialysis, NJ.com reported.
The brother, a former bus driver who held various positions with the Riverside Emergency Squad as EMT, tested positive for the virus and died of a heart attack on December 7th.
And less than a week later, Ruth Allen’s sister, Eileen Wolverton, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in the fall, died at Virtua Willingboro Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
Wolverton, a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Delanco / Washington Fire Company, had helped care for Kemble’s brother-in-law, NJ.com reported.
Kemble said he will receive his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday along with the rest of the fire company, but he wants the shots to be widely available before his family could be protected.
“They should have been (available),” he said. “If there had been a great life from hell, there would have been a lot of people.”