Joanna Jimenez.Photo: gofundme
A New Jersey mother of three is dead of COVID-19 after an undergoing an emergency delivery.
Jimenez first became ill with COVID-19 at eight months pregnant.
“I’m just trying to stay strong,” Jimenez’s husband Chad Augustus told the news station, adding, “Every day I want to let my emotions out, but I’m trying to stay strong for the kids and the family.”
Jimenez’s best friend, Cynthia Sanchez, organized aGoFundMe campaignto raise money for the siblings “while they try to navigate life without their beloved matriarch.”
“It is with heavy hearts that we regretfully have to mourn the untimely passing of a loving mother, daughter, sister, friend and the beautiful joyful soul of Joanna Jimenez,” Sanchez wrote in the GoFundMe. “She is a light of love, peace, and positivity which illuminated everyone around her.”
“To say the least, she had so much life to live, love to give, and memories to make,” Sanchez added.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised more than $43,500 toward its $50,000 goal.
Jimenez’s brother John told ABC 7 that he is “proud” of his sister for “the woman she became after she had kids,” adding that the mom of three “dedicated her life to making sure her kids were good.”
Sister Jacqueline Diaz added that the family will “celebrate her life each and every day.”
Though the overall risk is low, pregnant women are at ahigher risk of death and severe illness from COVID-19than women who are not pregnant, according to astudyfrom the Centers for Disease Control published in November.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
