“It’s very shocking and we’re still trying to process it and we’re still trying to understand why,” Valerie Levario said.
Valerie’s 53-year-old father, Fabian “Chino” Levario, worked as a freelancer and sang in a Long Beach band for 20 years.
“That was his passion – it was to play music and be with his family,” Valerie said.
Fabian, who underwent a kidney transplant 16 years ago, never revealed how ill he was until he entered the hospital on November 23.
“It was hard for her to breathe. It was hard for her to speak,” Valerie said.
It will give positive results for COVID-19.
A little 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 was also infected. He later died.
Six days later, Debora’s husband, Armando Padilla, whom Valerie says has no underlying health conditions, will die of the virus.
Family members had to tell Armando Jr., 8, that he had lost both his father and mother.
“He stood there and looked at her and said, ‘My mother is in my heart. I know she is not coming home. Now she is in my heart and I will always have her in my heart.’
Valerie says they were careful. They did not gather and always wore masks, but it is not clear how they contracted the virus.
Valerie’s message: wear a mask and take the virus seriously.
“Don’t be selfish. People die because of it and it’s not fair,” she said.
The GoFundMe pages were created to help pay for three cremations and to create a trust fund for Armando Jr., who is now cared for by his grandmother.
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