With strict social distancing rules in place, the last time Marini Smith saw her husband, Rayshone Smith, was March 16 when he was admitted to the hospital. He died from COVID-19 a week later. (Source: Smith Family/CNN)
A Michigan woman and her daughter struggled to say goodbye to her husband, who died of COVID-19. They couldn’t see him in the week before he died, except for FaceTime calls facilitated by a nurse, and couldn’t attend his funeral.
Marini Smith says in the last three weeks, she, her father and her brother have all tested positive for COVID-19, the same virus that killed her husband, Rayshone Smith. She hasn’t left the house since.
“People in the family started displaying flu-like symptoms – no idea it was corona, nothing like that, just, ‘Hey, I don’t feel so good,’” Marini Smith said. “My husband, his symptom was a high fever.”
With strict social distancing rules in place, the last time Marini Smith saw her husband was March 16 when he was admitted to the hospital. Their conversations afterward were facilitated by a worried nurse.
“The nurse felt so bad for my daughter and I, she used her personal phone and FaceTimed us, which I thought was really, really nice,” Marini Smith said. So, she let us speak with him, and I asked was he scared? He said ‘Yeah.’ Everybody that know my husband know he’s not afraid of anything, but he was very, very scared.”
Marini Smith says she and her daughter are now waiting until the end of the coronavirus pandemic to say their last goodbyes to Rayshone Smith. (Source: Smith Family/CNN)
Just seven days after arriving at the hospital, Rayshone Smith died. Neither his wife nor his daughter could attend his funeral. They were forced to watch short cell phone videos of the service.
“I didn’t want him to leave here alone. I just feel like he was there for everybody, and I feel like he was alone. Nobody was able to be there for him,” Marini Smith said.
Marini Smith and her daughter are now waiting until the end of the pandemic to say their last goodbyes.
“I promised her when this is all over, we’re going somewhere, we’re going to scream and cry and hold each other and we’re going to go visit her dad,” Marini Smith said.
The story of the Smiths is reflective of countless others amid the coronavirus pandemic. The speed of the deadly and contagious virus is leaving families holding unexpected and under-attended funerals at a frightening pace.
The story of the Smiths is reflective of countless others amid the coronavirus pandemic. The speed of the deadly and contagious virus is leaving families holding unexpected and under-attended funerals at a frightening pace. (Source: Smith Family/CNN)
At Major Clora’s funeral home in Detroit, no more than 10 immediate family members can pay their respects in person during this time.
“It’s very, very challenging, just receiving so many death calls at once,” Clora said. “This week has been one of the most overwhelming weeks that I’ve ever had in my career.”
One funeral director in New York City told CNN his four facilities usually get 30 to 40 calls per month. He says they’re now getting that many calls per day.