WARREN, Mich. – A Metro Detroit charity is trying to help three children who lost both of their parents to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Aram family fled ISIS eight years ago and built a new life in Metro Detroit. Nameer Aram worked at an automotive supply company, while his wife, Nada Aram, was a homemaker.
UPDATE -- May 12, 2020: Michigan coronavirus cases up to 48,021; Death toll now at 4,674
Nada was the first to test positive for the coronavirus, and she was taken to Ascension Hospital in Warren.
“When mom gets sick, there’s no one home to cook and clean and do all that stuff that they’re used to,” said Renee Yaldo, of the Chaldean American Ladies of Charity. “Plus, on top of it all, they’re sick the first few weeks of it.”
The virus spread to the 20-year-old son and his 18-year-old sister. They were sick at home.
“They both had fevers that were so high that they were changing their clothes six to seven times a day,” Yaldo said.
Shortly after, Nameer got infected. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he was transferred to University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.
He died Monday, a few weeks after his wife’s death.
“It’s just been a whirlwind for them,” Yaldo said. “It’s going to take a long time, and I don’t think they’re going to realize what they’ve been through for a while.”
The Chaldean community is rallying around the three children.
“We are going to build a shield around them and support them, and whatever they need, you know, they tell the American ladies of charity,” Yaldo said. “We’re a group of volunteer women that started this organization. We’re hoping to be the mom that takes care of them when they’re sick, the mom that they come to when they need advice.
“One day they’re going to graduate from college and they’re going to get married and they’re going to have to go through all these life experiences with each other. But not without their parents.”
The community wants them to know they’re not alone.
The Charity needs help. It needs a lawyer so the eldest can become the guardian of the youngest, who’s just 13. She never got the virus, and members of the charity said they’re working with her school.
Click here to donate to the charity and help the children.
Any money that’s donated will help cover the bills and go to the children’s college fund.
A small funeral service for Nameer is planned for tomorrow.