Mother of 8 Dies of COVID-19 Complications After Spending a Week on Ventilator: A 'Nightmare'
Eight children are mourning the loss of their mother after she died of COVID-19 complications, and their father is speaking out about the importance of being vaccinated.
Amber Feltner of Cincinnati, Ohio, was taken to a local hospital on Sept. 13 when she began having breathing issues related to COVID-19 and was soon placed on a ventilator, her husband, Travis Feltner, detailed on a Facebook fundraising page.
While doctors placed her on dialysis earlier this week and she showed hints of improvement, the 37-year-old Girl Scout Leader died on Sept. 21.
"At 10:12 pm we lost the [world's] best mom," Travis wrote on the donation page. "Wife, best friend if you can donate anything because I am on long [term] disability I don't know how I am going to pay for this."
The couple's youngest kids are 3-year-old twins, while the oldest of their eight children is 20, WLWT reported.
Travis told the outlet his wife didn't receive a COVID-19 vaccine because of his reaction to the flu vaccine years ago. He's now encouraging others to get their vaccine, and he plans to get one himself.
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"I would never want anybody to go through what I'm going through. It's just a complete nightmare," Travis told WLWT. "I know Amber would want people to not fall in the footsteps of what happened to her."
The donation page for the family has raised $4,300 as of Thursday afternoon. Travis told WLWT he is trying to stay strong for his children but is having a difficult time without his wife there.
"It's just hard cause they keep asking for — they keep asking for mom," he said.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone aged 12 years and older be vaccinated against COVID-19.
As of Thursday morning, 55 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 64 percent have has at least one dose, according to the New York Times.
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