A mother in Tinley Park says her daughter died just three days after the otherwise healthy teenager was hospitalized with coronavirus just before Christmas.
Sarah Simental, a Lincoln-Way East senior who just turned 18 last month, first reported a minor headache on Dec. 16, her mother Deborah Simental said. The next day, she began to feel crowded and sore throat.
“My immediate thought was that these were symptoms of COVID,” said Deborah Simental.
Outside her home, Simental had seen her boyfriend only before she felt symptoms, her mother said.
On Friday, her symptoms continued as she developed fever, chills and vomiting.
On Saturday morning, her mother took her for a coronavirus test and that evening her results came back positive.
Early Wednesday morning, Simental went to Silver Cross Hospital after starting to have pain in his left shoulder. While she was there, her oxygen levels dropped and Simental was placed on a ventilator and taken to the intensive care unit.
Due to coronavirus protocols, Deborah Simental could not see her daughter while she was hospitalized, but had a telephone conversation with her while she was being transferred to the ICU.
“I told him, ‘He’ll be fine,’ and he knew he’d miss Christmas – he liked Christmas,” Deborah Simental said. “The last words he said to me were, ‘Mom, she’ll be fine.'”
On Christmas Eve, Simental said he was finally able to visit his daughter, but by then, the teen was already sedated.
“I can only hope she could hear me talking to her,” Deborah Simental said.
On Christmas Day, the 18-year-old was flown to the University of Chicago Medical Center and died on December 26.
“It was so fast,” said Deborah Simental. “There are no basic conditions at all. She was a very healthy young lady, 18 years old. We were proactive in terms of health, we had all received flu shots and we knew the importance, because we emphasized it all the time when it came to social distance and making sure we had masks.
According to the doctor’s office in Cook County, Simental died of acute hypoxic respiratory failure due to coronavirus.
“She took it. She took it – a perfectly healthy 18-year-old girl,” Deborah Simental said. “I still can’t wrap my head around him.”
The Cement Family
The family said it remains unclear how Simental contracted the virus.
The teenager’s mother, boyfriend and her boyfriend’s father gave negative results following her diagnosis.
“I have no idea how he hired her,” Deborah Simental said.
The Simental family said they hope to share their story will help others recognize the severity of the pandemic.
“There are people out there who don’t take her seriously. Her father and I are here to tell you – it’s real,” Deborah Simental said. “There will be more holidays, birthdays, all these events that we can’t do. You will have them again. This has taken my daughter and we will not be able to have them again.”
A visit to Simental is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Orland Park, but due to coronavirus restrictions, only 10 people are allowed at a time and masks and social distance are required. The family also plans to have a private funeral.
The stallion is remembered as free, good and animal-loving who volunteered at local animal shelters. Her obituary says she was “loved by Bailey’s furry best friend.”
Instead of flowers, her family requests that donations be made to PAWS in Tinley Park at pawstinleypark.org/donate.
“Please wear a mask, social distance. Don’t worry about meeting for these events, wait until this is under control,” Deborah Simental said. “You’re not in the position her father and I are in now. No one should bury their child. No parent should see their child go through what my daughter went through. It was a nightmare.”