Karol Padilla knew she and her family were in trouble.
Padilla and her husband had contracted COVID-19 last spring, and Padilla’s symptoms were far worse than her husband’s. Coughing spells wracked her body, making it difficult to breathe, and she needed help performing even the simplest of tasks. Yet with two children to care for, she had to press on.
“On Mother’s Day I wasn’t able to hug my kids because I was diagnosed (with coronavirus),” Padilla said. “I never lost faith, but It took about a month to hug them again.”
Padilla, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, explained that even before they got sick, the family was struggling under pandemic closures. Her husband’s hours at his landscaping job had been severely cut back, and then, when both of them were diagnosed with the virus, they were ordered to quarantine for 14 days. They had little money for food or bills they owed, and the rent was due.
