The family of an Alabama man who died of heart problems urges people to get vaccinated after they say he was removed from 43 hospitals in three different states because COVID-19 cases occupied all ICU beds .
Ray Martin DeMonia of Cullman died at a Mississippi hospital on Sept. 1, just three days before his 74th birthday, according to his obituary.
When DeMonia suffered a heart attack, local emergency personnel began contacting hospitals in search of an ICU bed for him.
Her family said DeMonia was withdrawn from 43 hospitals because her ICUs were full and staff were lying in the middle of a wave of COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly contagious variant of Delta.
Eventually, emergency workers located an available bed at Meridian Rush Foundation Hospital, Mississeny, about 200 miles from her home, but she died.
Following her death, DeMonia’s family used her obituary to urge people to get vaccinated.
“In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you don’t, in an effort to free up resources for non-COVID-related emergencies,” the obituary said. “I wouldn’t want any other family to go through what he did.”
DeMonia was a well-known Alabama antique dealer and had worked in the industry for 40 years, her family said.
He is survived by his wife, daughter and grandson.
As of Monday, the Alabama Department of Health warned that there was a high level of community-wide transmission.
More than 2,400 people were in hospitals across the state, according to data from the health department.
To date, 1.8 million people in Alabama have been completely vaccinated, or about 35% of the state’s total population, according to the data.