JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A family of Duval County Public Schools employees with more than 50 years in the system combined has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic this summer with a set of parents in the ICU and their son losing his life. None of the family members were vaccinated because they were scared of the uncertainty surrounding it all.
Now, Payten McCall is working to get the word out about getting vaccinated so what has happened to her family doesn't happen to anyone else.
Payten, 24, is the youngest of three children and the only daughter of Mark and Sherry McCall.
"I would never want anyone to feel what we feel. I really want people to understand that none of my family was vaccinated. We were all against it because we were scared," she told the Times-Union.
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"But I want them to understand that this could happen to them," she said. "You could lose the people you love in a matter of days. I never thought my family would be put into a situation where my brother would not make it out alive."
'Our lives will never be the same'
Mark, 60, is a millshop foreman with the district's facilities maintenance team and has been for more than 20 years. Sherry, 58, is a media specialist at Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts and has worked in education for over 30 years.
Their son, Britt — vibrant and blue-eyed with an infectious smile — worked in the maintenance department alongside his dad. He was born on Nov. 26, 1985. He died on Monday at 2:26 a.m. after fighting the coronavirus for three weeks in the ICU. He was 35 years old.
"Our lives will never be the same. Britt was our leader. He was our protector. He loved us even on the roughest of days," Payten said. "He always knew what to say in any occasion. He was good at everything he did. He was just naturally talented and so smart. He was someone we always looked up to. He was the blood of my blood. We all loved him more than he would ever know. I don’t know how I’ll live in a world without my big brother."
The coronavirus has been an ongoing plague on the McCall family. Other family members also contracted the virus but they recovered. Payten said Britt's fight came with peaks and valleys.
"He became sick around July 4th — he could not breathe and could not eat," she said. For a while, he improved. "He was fine the days before they put him on a ventilator. He didn't know he was going to die and didn't get a chance to say goodbye to any of us."
Sherry was admitted to Ascension St. Vincent's two weeks ago. She was sick to the point of not being able to breathe or eat, her daughter said. Sherry also has heart disease — which can make someone more likely to become severely ill from COVID-19.
"We were terrified that it was going to affect her even more than it did," Payten said. Still, the matriarch persisted — but she won't be out of the hospital for awhile. Her levels plummeted when she heard that her oldest son had died.
Mark was admitted a week later and is being put on full oxygen in the ICU. He originally tested positive alongside his wife, but wasn't displaying enough symptoms to warrant being hospitalized.
Hospitals across Jacksonville have reported a surge in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and dwindling capacity over the last month.
By the ninth day at home, Payten said her dad could no longer breathe. His oxygen levels were in the sixties — blood oxygen levels below 90 percent are considered low.
On Thursday, a nurse set up a FaceTime call between Mark and his remaining children to say goodbye. He was being admitted to Hospice care. Sherry, who is out of the ICU but remains hospitalized, will stay with Mark.
"I don't have the words to describe the level of hurt," Payten said.
She hopes her story can save someone else's father or brother.
'I don't want this to happen to any more people'
As the McCall parents fight for their lives, siblings Payten and her older brother Cason, 31, are left picking up the pieces.
Their parents have been out of work for weeks now, they don't know what the financial situation will look like. They're worried about the bills that need to be paid. Their parents have been simultaneously fighting for their lives and grieving. They don't want them worried about money, too.
Payten launched a GoFundMe for the family on Tuesday to help with medical bills as well as funeral expenses for her brother. As of Thursday morning, it's raised nearly $5,000.
Still, they're missing Britt's sage advice and solid hugs. Payten is already thinking about how her dad may not be able to walk her down the aisle one day. She never thought something like this could happen to them. And the family doesn't want it to be in vain. Payte hopes others who were hesitant will get vaccinated.
"I was told something that I should’ve listened to before: 'Stop being selfish. Think of those around you and the ones you’d lay your life down for,'" Payten said. "I don’t want this to happen to any more people. It’s not fair. My brother was too young. And my poor parents shouldn’t have to worry about fighting this and bills and my brother. It all just isn’t fair. I’d give anything to get my brother back."
You can donate to the McCall family by visiting https://bit.ly/2UYwLUS.
Emily Bloch is an education reporter for The Florida Times-Union. Follow her on Twitter or email her.
