Buddy, a veteran NFL agent, shared that his parents started to feel unwell about three weeks ago and visited a doctor but were eventually sent home. However, not long after, their condition started to deteriorate, so their doctor advised them to go to a hospital. They were then sent home from the hospital too and asked to self-quarantine until their condition got better.
Concerned of his parents’ health, Buddy, a CEO of Exclusive Sports group, would call in to check with them frequently, but they showed no signs of improvement.
On March 19, Stuart was admitted in the hospital after he got a fever and asthma, while Adrian was sent home.
He further added that “[We] were really worried about my mom being by herself … we would go see her and she was very weak and really wasn’t walking great.”
The family was optimistic that their father, whom they were chatting with, would be able to pass through the ordeal. However, two days after Stuart was admitted to the hospital, he was taken into the ICU. The family still continued to remain hopeful.
On March 24, Buddy received a devastating call from the hospital, stating that his father had tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Doctors told Buddy his father “wasn’t going to make it.”
The family didn’t want to break the upsetting news to their mother but took her to the hospital to get checked too as a “precautionary measure.” Within 45 minutes of her being admitted, doctors called to inform Buddy of the tragic news that his mother’s condition seemed bleak.
“In the timeframe of about five to six hours, I was informed, on the phone, by two separate doctors, that each one of [my] parents were [most likely] not going to make it,” Buddy said.
Not long after, doctors informed Buddy and his sister that their parents’ organs were failing and that neither would likely survive. Thus, the siblings decided to move their parents to hospice care. On March 29, the hospital put the couple in the same room and snapped a picture of the two “holding hands” while being sedated.
The Bakers were then taken off ventilators and passed away minutes apart.
Alluding to their long-lasting bond, Buddy told CNN, “They were as compatible and inseparable as two human beings have ever been married and existed on earth.”
He further urged people to take the necessary measures to help slow the spread of the virus by washing their hands, practicing social distancing, and staying at home.
“While we usually look for a positive thing, to be an inspiration, we hope that what’s happened to us, to our family, inspires others to start leading and unifying with each other to make the right choice and the challenging choice,” Buddy continued. “Again, it’s going to take all of us banding together and deciding that we’re going to stop the spreading of this virus. God bless and be safe.”
