Imperial County woman describes COVID’S devastating impact on her life
Widow shares the story of her husband's last days with News 11's Gianella Ghiglino
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY)- Rosie and Tim Blankenship were together for almost two decades. Rosie worked for the County and Tim was a cop in the El Centro Police Department.
When COVID hit they began taking every precaution necessary. Rosie is a breast cancer survivor and thought she would be the most vulnerable to the virus. However, in the end, it was her husband who lost his battle to COVID-19 in just a matter of days.
“I just kept telling him baby be strong, you’re going to make it, be strong, it's going to be fine he just kept going yes yes it’s almost like he knew,” said Rosie Blankenship.
When Tim was admitted to the hospital they told him he had COVID-induced Pneumonia and he had to be intubated. Tim declined it. Rosie wanted to see her husband say goodbye one last time but she could not enter the hospital without a COVID negative test so she reached out to the community for prayers.
“I waited in the parking lot, staring at my phone waiting for the text to come in and when the results said your results are negative I just said Hallelujah, thank you lord I started crying. I called the hospital I said here are my test results let me in to see my baby,” said Blankenship.
Rosie and Tim got to say goodbye, inside the four walls of a hospital room and they promised to one day meet again.
“We hugged, I took all his personal belongings, he kissed me and he said I’ll see you on the other side,” said Blankenship.
A devoted member of the church, a mentor, a justice seeker, his life impacted an entire community.
“I walked away that day knowing I would see him again,” she added.
