Firefighter and paramedic José Pérez was the first death recorded within the Los Angeles Fire Department
Los Angeles firefighter José Pérez spent 16 years of service before dying of COVID-19.
Photo: ETIENNE LAURENT / EFE
Last weekend a Hispanic-based firefighter and paramedic who was on duty for over 16 years, died after suffering complications due to the coronavirus, now his family sends a message with the last words of the man.
The 44-year-old paramedic from Los Angeles Fire Department, José Pérez, contracted the disease in late June and showed symptoms at the beginning of July after working on a fire response, according to one of his colleagues.
The LAFD thanks ALL agencies involved in honoring our brother, Firefighter III / Paramedic Jose M. Perez in his journey…
Posted by Los Angeles Fire Department on Saturday, July 25, 2020
“That night when we returned home he wrote me saying ‘I’m not feeling well, I have a fever’Assured his friend and also companion Ruben Torres speaking to ABC, along with Perez’s wife and three children.
“He thought it was because he had put a lot of effort into the work we had. They tested him and the next morning he received the results confirming that he had the virus.Torres assured.
A few days later, Pérez’s fever disappeared while he was isolated at home, but for the moment his wife Heidi Pérez and their children they had already been infected.
Posted by Ruben Torres on Sunday, July 26, 2020
However, Perez had not overcome the disease Still and the fever returned to the body of the 44-year-old man in a more severe form, so he drove by his own means to the hospital on July 16, where he died 9 days later.
His wife remembers that the last conversation he had with her husband and father of their children was by text message. “He said they were connected to a fanHeidi said. Pérez died the next day. “This is serious, people must wear masks, they must keep their distance. My children no longer have their fatherHeidi stated.
José Pérez was the first firefighter in the department to die due to COVID-19 and according to his partner, he was not convinced of the disease. In one of the last conversations the two men had, Perez told Torres: “I thought it wasn’t real. I thought it was a joke, but it’s real, dude“
Firefighter Ruben Torres He created a campaign on GoFundMe to raise funds to secure the future of his friend’s family. The goal is $ 250,000 dollars.
