Veteran Verizon Worker & Father of 5 Reportedly Dies From COVID-19 on Twin Daughters' Birthday

A 44-year-old Harlem born father of five passed away from the coronavirus on his twins' birthday as a result of the health care system that "failed" them, his wife claimed.

On March 29, Rolando "Sonny" Aravena died at the Orange Regional Hospital after being admitted earlier in the day.

Sunday also marked the 10th birthday of his twin daughters, and Rolando passed while his wife, Melody, went home to blow out the candles on their birthday cake after being told she can't be with him for health reasons.

REPEATED REQUESTS FOR HELP

By the time Rolando got admitted, he had already been experiencing symptoms for 13 days. Despite seeking help repeatedly, Melody claimed they got turned away three times.

The veteran Verizon worker began experiencing symptoms on March 19, after he'd been sent out to a field hospital in Manhattan as a field technician.

Sonny called the hotline, but could only get a test appointment a week down the line. Three days later, he landed in urgent care, but doctors reportedly sent him home.

On March 24, the emergency room turned him away, and he ended back in urgent care two days later. Sharing her anguish, Melody reportedly said:

“The health care system failed us. The pain is unbearable. His last words to me were, ‘Mel, I never knew love like this before. I love you.”

HE ENDED UP TESTING POSITIVE

Two days after Sonny passed, his coronavirus test results came back positive. The couple's children called them the "dynamic duo," and according to their daughter Amberly, Sonny and Melody "were amazing together."

After receiving the devastating call of her husband's death, Melody told the Time Herald-Record that she doesn't know how to move on from the loss, as she reportedly said:

“We’re broken and hurting. We don’t know how to survive without him. He was the rock of our family.”

THE TRAGIC LOSS OF ANOTHER FAMILY

Sadly, the family of Frank Nuttall living in Bolton, Greater Manchester, in the UK, can relate to Melody's loss. The father of two reportedly also passed away on Sunday, and he leaves behind an adult Down's Syndrome son, Andrew, he cared for full time.

The 64-year-old's daughter Elaine said that the family is "devastated, heartbroken, and struggling" after his passing, and she said that he kept in good health as a person with diabetes.

Frank got admitted to the Royal Bolton Hospital on March 28, and he had to be put on a ventilator the Monday before his passing.

BEACON OF HOPE

However, there are also stories of hope that shine through amid the growing numbers of those infected with the novel coronavirus. Recently, a 94-year-old woman named Joy got dubbed "Supergran" after recovering from the virus.

She spent nine days at the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk, in the UK, and has returned home after becoming one of the oldest people in the country to recover from the disease.