Fidel Ibarra Exmore, Virginia BIRTH: March 22, 1965 DEATH: May 13, 2020, age 55
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esenia Ibarra blames herself for her father's death from COVID-19. She had the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, but didn't know it, because she didn't have symptoms. She visited her parents at their home in Exmore, and both parents were sickened. Yesenia Ibarra also later became ill. Her mother recovered. Her father, 55-year-old Fidel Ibarra, died May 13 at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital. "I think I did it," his daughter said, her face a mixture of mourning, bewilderment and guilt. "I was the only one there those days." "I stopped coming to my parents' house, but it was too late," she said. Ibarra said she likely caught the virus while taking care of her sister, a worker at an Accomack County poultry-processing plant who came down with the coronavirus. She because ill despite protecting herself, maintaining distance and sterilizing everything. She did what she needed to do to help her sister and protect herself. Her heartbreak illustrates what medical professionals have stressed — not only is the virus highly contageous, people can spread it without being symptomatic themselves.
Fidel Ibarra, born in Mexico, brought his family to the United States two decades ago in search of the American dream. On the Eastern Shore, he found it. He was known for his passion for work — he was a farmworker and a mechanic. He enjoyed music and the culinary talents of his wife, Olga. His family was well-known and well-regarded. Ibarra can recount, literally by the minute, her father's harrowing last days. He had tested positive and was taking oxygen to help him breathe. Then it wasn't enough. "He turned bluish, grayish," he said. The family rushed him to Virginia Beach General Hospital, and when staff there removed his oxygen, he passed out. He never stabilized. Hospital officials called at midnight to say Ibarra had died. In addition to his wife, he is survived by five children and four grandsons. While others in the family have recovered, Ibarra hopes people heed public health warnings to slow the spread. I think they should be cautious and protect our elderly people, and protect everyone," she said.
— Written by Ted Shockley