LITTLE ROCK (KLRT) — A Little Rock woman is speaking out after she says her sister died of COVID-19 Saturday morning. This is one of five COVID-19 deaths across the state.
Just two weeks ago, Latia Wright got a call from her sister Tanisha Cotton saying she was feeling a little sick.
“Like she had a sinus infection or maybe a cold,” Wright said.
As a respiratory therapist, Wright knew she needed to keep an eye on the symptoms but Tuesday everything changed.
“She’s having to pull a chair out and sit down just to make it from one area to the next,” Wright said.
From shortness of breath to a cough that just wouldn’t go away, Wright knew something was off.
“I said ‘you know that’s different than the average cold than the average anything. You need to pack your things and meet me at the hospital in the E.R,’” Wright said.
Tuesday night Cotton was admitted and eventually tested for COVID-19. Wright said that test eventually came back positive.
“This virus is strong, this virus is horrible. This virus is unlike something we have ever seen ever,” Wright said.
Cotton was put in the Intensive Care Unit, then on a ventilator.
“This morning I got a phone call and he was stating that they were coding my sister,” Wright said.
In just four days she was gone.
“She thought she had a cold,” Wright said.
Her sister says she was 42 years old, no underlying health conditions, in fact this was her first stay at a hospital.
“This virus is for everybody. Not a sick person, not the weak. It will take you out no matter what age you are,” Wright said.
Now, Wright is pleading with the public to take this virus seriously.
“Stay indoors. Do not come out. This is not the time,” Wright said.
She says if this can hit her family, it can hit anyones.
“I am here as a respiratory therapist and it has struck my home, my family and I’m lost for words,” Wright said.
Wright hopes by sharing her sisters story people will understand how serious the coronavirus is. She urges the public to stay inside and wait this out not just to protect yourself but to also protect your friends and family.
