Husband whose family wished he'd gotten vaccinated dies of COVID

LA MARQUE, Texas (KTRK) -- A husband and father of four has died after being hospitalized with COVID-19 for more than three weeks.

Lawrence Rodriguez and his wife Lydia of La Marque were both hospitalized due to the virus in mid-July. Lawrence died on Monday, according to family.

Lydia's cousin, Dottie Jones, tells ABC13 Lydia was hesitant about getting the vaccine.

"They didn't believe in vaccines," said Jones. "You try to talk to them, and she just didn't like that. Didn't trust it, I guess."

Once she was in ICU, Lydia changed her mind about the vaccine and asked to get it, but doctors told her it was too late.

"Before she got intubated, one of the last things she told her sister was 'Please make sure my children get vaccinated,'" Jones said. "It's hard to do that in hindsight. To think that she wouldn't be there. She would be there for her kids right now if she had been vaccinated."

Now, the family is trying to take care of the Rodriguez's four children and help pay the bills so they can stay in their home. Jones believes if her family was vaccinated, they would not be in this situation.

"It just breaks my heart that people are believing the misinformation that's out there. The misinformation is killing people, and we need to get the truth out there," said Jones.

Jones is pleading with people who are hesitant about the vaccine to talk to their doctor and get information about it from a trusted source.

"This is really happening in our family, and it is the true story of what can happen. I am not trying to scare people. I just want people to understand this virus is real, and this delta variant is more brutal that anything we've seen," explained Jones.

As Lydia remains in the ICU on a ventilator, Jones and other family members are helping with the Rodriguez's four children.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help with medical costs and bills.

"Our hearts are just broken," said Jones. "We hurt for the kids. We hurt for them, and we just want them better and home."