Seven sibilings in Detroit lost both their mother and father to COVID-19 just one day apart.
Charletta Green died on Labor Day just a matter of hours before her husband Troy Green also passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The couple had been married for 22 years. Both Charletta and Troy were 44 years old and leave behind seven children ranging from 10 to 23 years old.
“They met when they were 14 years old, got married, been married 22 years, and had seven beautiful children,” Troy’s sister, Tiki Green told local station FOX2.
The couple planned to make a trip to Florida in August with their children, but on Aug. 13, Troy got sick and stayed back at home in Detroit. Charletta went ahead on the trip with the children but upon arriving in Orlando she also started to feel sick.
Over the next few days, Charletta and Troy, who both suffered from diabetes, ended up hospitalized in Orlando and Detroit. By Aug. 23, Troy was on a ventilator, and by Aug. 26 Charletta was as well.
Things were looking up when Troy began to improve and was discharged from the insensitive care unit, but in Florida Charletta wasn’t doing well as doctors reported that she had a blood clot.
The children called Troy to let him know about their mother’s condition, and upon hearing the news, Troy began having chest pains and would later die of a heart attack at 3 a.m. on Tuesday after Charletta passed away on Labor Day.
“Her lungs were severely damaged and … they just couldn’t do any more for her,” Green said. “When he realized that his wife, you know, maybe not getting better, after he hears she’s on a ventilator and she’s on it 100 percent constantly, he just basically couldn’t take that. He just started having chest pains, and eventually a couple of hours later he passed.”
The couple had considered getting vaccinated, but neither of them had gotten the shot. All of the children who were eligible to recieve the vaccine had gotten it. Troy’s death was particulary unexpected after his condition had been improving.
“They [the children] came to grips with their mom. They [doctors] told them they did all the can. They were able to say goodbye to her,” Green told The Detroit News. “My brother’s death was unexpected. It happened in the middle of the night.”
Currently, the older siblings and the children’s aunt and uncles are caring for the younger children and paying bills. Nearly $27,000 was raised through a GoFundMe page for the family before it was closed to new donations.
“We just always knew they were coming home,” Green said. “So for neither of them to come home, words can’t explain how we feel right now.”
