PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida woman is devastated after learning that her father, a Korean War veteran, died from complications due to COVID-19 weeks after he contracted the virus at a state-run nursing home.
Debbie Mann said her father, William Tetreault, lost his battle against COVID-19, Tuesday afternoon. He was 89 years old.
“My dad wasn’t supposed to die this way, not this way,” Mann said during a phone interview as she fought back tears.
Mann said her father passed away in a hospital room with only a doctor holding up a cellphone on speaker.
“I got to tell him he was the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather, and that he created 33 of us in my family, and we will all carry his name on,” she said.
Tetreault, a longtime South Florida resident, was one of the latest patients to succumb to COVID-19 at Alexander Nininger State Veterans Nursing Home in Pembroke Pines.
State officials said eight veterans who live at the facility remain hospitalized with the virus, and four patients who have tested positive but are asymptomatic are in quarantine.
“The nursing homes need to be better equipped and better able to deal with things like this,” said Mann.
In fact, nearly 1,000 of Florida’s 21,628 cases, as of Tuesday evening, stem from nursing homes.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants the National Guard to help increase testing at long-term care facilities.
Another local nursing home, The Court at Palm Aire in Pompano Beach, announced on Tuesday that two of their residents had died due to COVID-19, and five others have tested positive.
Back at Alexander Nininger in Pembroke Pines, staff sent pictures to families showing what they called a disinfecting sweep of one wing. Staffers were captured cleaning walls, tables, vents, privacy curtains and floors.
But for Mann, the father who triumphed walking his daughter down the aisle when his mobility was poor, who saw a granddaughter enter the U.S. Navy and celebrated 65 years of marriage, did not deserve to pass away with only a doctor holding his hand.
“He has a huge family, and we all would have been there. If we could, we all would have been with him,” she said. “Nobody should ever have to die alone. This is so hard.”
Mann said her father will be buried with full military honors, but she would like as many family members as possible to attend the ceremony, so they are going to wait a few months.
Anyone with questions and concerns about the coronavirus can call the Florida Department of Health’s 24-hour hotline at 1-866-779-6121.
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