DETROIT – A nurse at Henry Ford Health System wants her story to serve as a warning for everyone.
Marion King said she felt like she lost two mothers within days. She lost her mother and aunt to coronavirus and the experience changed her mind about getting the COVID vaccine.
READ: Michigan COVID: Here’s what to know April 25, 2021
“I can’t describe the pain,” King said. “I would hate for anyone to share that pain with me.”
Her mother, Marilyn, and her aunt, Barbara, were inseparable.
“They did everything together,” King recalled. “They both were reluctant. There were not going to get this vaccine.”
Marilyn got COVID first and Barbara caught it shortly after. Both sisters died in mid-March.
“They died four days apart,” King said. “Had a double-funeral, matching caskets, matched the flowers, matching colors.”
The registered nurse had planned to wait a few months to see how others responded to the vaccines, but after losing her mother and aunt, King changed her mind.
“At that point, I didn’t care if it was Moderna or Pfizer,” King said. “I didn’t have a preference. I just needed to be vaccinated.”
Like many people, King had concerns and questions about the vaccine, but after losing loved ones, she decided it was the best way to keep her family safe.
“I wanted to make sure I made the right decision because my decision affects my children,” King said.
The mother of four quickly got her three eldest vaccinated and hopes others will do the same.
“I couldn’t allow my children to experience another loss, I just refuse to ignore that I’m out there each and every day,” King said. “I’m tired of living in fear.”
King’s 19-year-old daughter is studying at Pennsylvania State University to become a pediatrician. She’s using the tragic lost of her grandmother and great-aunt to inspire you people to get vaccinated.