Grieving husband urges people to get vaccinated after losing wife

The unvaccinated mother of four died from coronavirus last week, with her grieving husband now urging people to get jabbed.

The grieving husband of a US grandmother who tragically died of coronavirus is urging people to get vaccinated and avoid similar tragedies.

Fernanda ‘Ferny’ Vega, who died on July 13 after contracting Covid and developing a blood clot in her lungs, leaves behind four children and 10 grandchildren.

The 47-year-old former healthcare worker and her family, from the US state of Arizona, were unvaccinated due to concerns about vaccine side effects, her husband Ysmael Vega said.

RELATED: ‘Brainwashed’ mum refused to vaccinate kids

Fernanda and Ysmael Vega contracted Covid earlier this month. Picture: Fox 5.

The couple and their teenage son caught coronavirus at the beginning of the month from one of their daughters.

Mr Vega told local radio station KTAR News his family had decided not to get vaccinated because of concerns over how quickly the vaccine had been produced and their young age.

“Covid comes out and a year later, there’s a vaccine,” he said. “We didn’t know the side effects in the future.”

Ms Vega had seemed okay at first, but then deteriorated rapidly on July 13 and she was rushed to hospital.

It was there medical staff discovered a blood clot in one of the grandmother’s lungs and she could not be saved, dying within the hour.

Ms Vega’s condition deteriorated rapidly and she died of Covid complications an hour after being rushed to hospital. Picture: Fox 5

“All I did was just hold her hand, massaged her hair, told her how much I missed her,” Mr Vega told Fox 5 of his wife’s death.

“But I saw peace. I didn‘t see any more pain. The pain was just that she was gone.”

A GoFundMe set up in Ms Vega’s honour has paid tribute to the “incredible beauty” of her personality and so far raised more than $21,000 for her loved ones.

“Ferny left an incredible mark on so many lives and we need to honour that with strength and with love,” the GoFundMe page read.

“She was a great listener with time for friends from all walks of life. She was as selfless as she was determined and left her mark on so many people.”

Mr Vega is now recovering from a bout of pneumonia brought on by coronavirus and has reconsidered his stance on Covid vaccines.

The widower is now urging others who might be hesitant about the jab to do the same.

“I’m going to get the vaccine – yes it’s not going to cover you 100 per cent,” he told KTAR News.

“(But) what I experienced, I don’t want anyone else to experience this.

“Everybody has their own choice, but Covid is real and what I went through I don’t want to be back there again … I would recommend getting the vaccine and I am going to get the vaccine.”

Mr Vega’s death is not the only tragic Covid loss to make headlines in the United States this month, with the mother of Missouri woman Tricia Jones speaking out after her daughter died of coronavirus in June.

Tricia Jones died of coronavirus last month. Picture: Facebook

Deborah Carmichael told local news station Fox 4 Ms Jones had been hesitant about getting the vaccine.

“She was afraid of the side effects, I think. You hear a lot of horror stories,” Ms Carmichael said.

“I, myself, when I had the shot, it was rough, so it scared her and freaked her out. So she didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t convince her.”

Ms Jones contracted the Delta variant of coronavirus in April alongside her husband after their son got the virus at school.

She was hospitalised and on May 13 was put on a ventilator but tragically died less than a month later.

“After she got it, she said, ‘Mum you were right, about the shot, about masks, being diligent and all that’. I was like, ‘I don’t want to be right. I want you to be well. That’s all that matters’,” Ms Carmichael said.