A west suburban family wants to spread a message of caution after their loved one’s heartbreaking battle with the coronavirus.
Joe Takash of La Grange Park is asking those who knew his beloved mother to take the disease seriously.
“It’s real, it’s not a hoax, it’s not politically driven. Unless you’ve gone through it you cannot know how insidious this is,” Takash said.
His mother, 82-year-old Kay Takash of Western Springs, suffered from COPD but took every measure to keep safe during the first few months of the pandemic. Takash would only allow visits with family members from 14-feet away.
But Joe Takash says his mother decided to visit her seamstress in May, which changed his family’s life forever. Takash says his mother was wearing a mask but gave her seamstress a hug.
“A week later, right when my mom started feeling symptomatic, she got a call that her seamstress and her husband and daughter were in the hospital,” Takash said. “Since then, the seamstress and her husband have passed.”
Takash says both his mother and her husband of 61 years tested positive for the coronavirus. Although his mother was sent to the hospital, his father was able to recover on his own.
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“This is a rollercoaster. Two different times we were sure she was going to get discharged and she would take a turn for the worst,” Takash said. “When we knew that her oxygen levels were continually going down on the highest setting of this mask, we knew it was time.”
Joe Takash says a few weeks after being admitted into the hospital, his mother’s final moments were spent holding his father’s hand.
“She had an iron grip. My dad said, ‘Kay, being married to you for 61 years, my life has been a dream,’” Takash said. “A tear came to her eye, and a couple minutes she was gone.”
Kay Takash is survived by her husband, three sons and daughter.
The family urges others to take the coronavirus seriously.
