An NFL agent has shared a heartbreaking video about the death of his parents, who passed away from COVID-19 complications just six minute...
An NFL agent has shared a heartbreaking video about the death of his parents, who passed away from COVID-19 complications just six minutes apart - as he begged others to prevent further tragedy by practicing social distancing.
Father-of-three Buddy Baker, from Indianapolis, revealed that his parents, Stuart Baker, 74, and Adrian Baker, 72, were in 'perfect health' just a few weeks ago, before both contracted the coronavirus in late March.
Ten days after his father was admitted to hospital - where doctors initially predicted that he would make a full recovery - the couple, who were married for more than 51 years, passed away.
Heartbroken: NFL agent Buddy Baker revealed in a devastating video that both of his parents died just six minutes apart as a result of COVID-19 complications
'Inseparable': The Indianapolis native said that his parents, who had been married for more than 51 years, could not have lived without one another
'As many of you know, my parents recently contracted COVID-19, and unfortunately passed away this past Sunday due to complications,' Buddy shared in an emotional video posted to his Twitter account.
'My parents were amazing people, they were married 51 plus years, they passed away six minutes apart.
'Just a few weeks ago, they were in perfect health.'
Speaking to local news affiliate WTHR, Buddy added that 'it happened so fast', revealing that his father - who was an asthmatic - was admitted to hospital on March 19, however it was expected that he would be released within 48 hours.
Stuart's condition then quickly deteriorated and he was moved to the ICU.
Days later, Buddy's mother Adrian began experiencing 'minor symptoms' and was taken to the same hospital, where her health took a serious and very rapid turn for the worse.
'An hour into us dropping her off there, I got a call from the ER doctor saying they didn’t think she was gonna make it,' Buddy revealed.
'They both deteriorated day by day until Sunday until we had them put into same room when they said there was no chance either one was gonna make it.'
Buddy's parents both passed away on March 29 just six minutes apart, with the NFL agent saying that he believed there was no way the couple could have ever lived without one another.
'They were inseparable,' he said. 'They were married for 51-plus years. I don't know how they would've lived without each other, to be honest.'
Stuart and Adrian leave behind two children, and six grandchildren.
However Buddy is determined that his family's tragedy serve as a catalyst for others to make a serious change in their own lives, to prevent anyone else from experiencing the same loss and heartache.
'We live in a world of, “It can’t happen to me, it can’t happen to us, it can’t happen to my family.” Well, it happened to us,' he said in his social media video.
'I’d like to take this time to make people start thinking about making a change. While the CDC and all the regulatory bodies make suggestions on what we should do, I’m not sure everyone really understands the importance of it.
'Hopefully this can be a catalyst for change.'
He went on to urge people to practice social distancing, regularly wash and sanitize their hands, and - 'importantly' - to stay home.
'This is an opportunity for something which was very bad and tragic to my family to prevent [it from happening] to someone else’s,' Buddy noted.
Helping hand: Family and friends of Buddy and his parents have started an online fundraiser to 'help find a cure for the horrible disease which took their lives'
He then made a pointed plea to 'young people', noting that many feel as though they are 'immune' and even 'invincible', insisting that 'this is simply not the case', and that everyone needs to do their part to protect those around them.
'It’s not the easy choice, but it’s the right choice, it’s the safe choice,' he said. 'I realize it’s boring to stay at home, and you’re not going to be able to live life as we’ve grown accustomed to. But it’s necessary to help fight and stop the spreading of this horrible virus.
'We hope that what’s happened to us and our family inspires others to start leading and unifying with each other to make the right choice and the challenging choice.
'Again it’s going to take all of us banding together and deciding that we are going to stop the spreading of this virus. God bless and be safe.'
Family and friends of Stuart and Adrian have set up an online fundraiser in their honor, in an attempt to 'help find a cure for the horrible disease which took their lives'.
On the GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $23,000 in just two days, friends of the couple reveal how they both grew up and spent most of their lives in New York, where Stuart spent much of his life teaching and coaching young children.
'Adrian and Stu grew up and lived most of their lives in New York,' a post on the fundraising page reads. 'Stu lived in the Queensbridge Houses, sometimes known as the Queensbridge Housing Project, for the first six years of his life and then later taught and coached kids from this area for his entire professional career.
'He became a staple in this community and he impacted many lives.'
As of Friday morning, there were more than 245,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the US, and more than 6,000 people were reported to have died from the illness.
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