Bergen County Husband And Wife Die In Coronavirus Tragedy: Family

PALISADES PARK, NJ — A Palisades Park husband and wife last week died days apart in the same hospital after one of them was diagnosed with the new coronavirus, with their family members unable to see them in their final days or remember them in formal funeral services, their daughter said.

Alfred Pabatao, 68, and his wife, Susana Pabatao, 64, both died after Alfred contracted the coronavirus, their daughter, Sheryl Pabatao, confirmed to Patch.

Sheryl Pabatao manages a GoFundMe that aims to raise funds to cover expenses after her parents' deaths. As of Tuesday morning, it had raised $4,426.

On the GoFundMe page, Sheryl Pabatao wrote that her parents both worked on the medical front lines and were beloved parents, grandparents and siblings.

"This unfortunate event is taking a toll emotionally and financially to our family. Any help financially and with thoughts and prayers will be greatly and deeply appreciated wholeheartedly," she wrote in the GoFundMe.

Her parents began feeling sick after the family had a gathering of 12 people after an uncle's death, NJ Advance Media reported.

Alfred Pabatao first started showing symptoms of the new coronavirus on March 17 and was taken to the emergency room two days later with shortness of breath, according to a report from GMA News Online. He had first gone to his regular physician but was turned away, according to the report.

While hospitalized, Alfred Pabatao tested positive for COVID-19 and was intubated. On March 26, he died in the hospital, the same one where he had worked as a medical transporter, accoding to the reports. On March 19, the same day her husband was hospitalized, Susana Pabatao also began showing symptoms of COVID-19 including fever, shortness of breath and an inability to swallow.

NJ Avdvance Media reports that Susana Pabatao and her daughter, Sheryl, spent three mornings waiting in line at the Bergen County Community College drive-thru COVID-19 test site after her husband was hospitalized, but the site hit capacity each day before Susana could be tested, and the pair were turned away.

Susana Papatao was taken to the ER on March 23 at the urging of her daughter and admitted to the hospital, where she died March 30 from what is suspected to be COVID-19. NJ.com reports the family is still waiting on Susana Pabatao's test results.

Sheryl Pabatao told CBS News reporter David Begnaud she had to tell her mother about her husband's death over the phone while she was hospitalized. She said she felt as if she could hear her mom give up when she told her the news.

"My mom didn’t say anything, but I can hear all the machines," she said. "All the machines [sounded] like her blood pressure’s going low, her oxygen level’s probably going down.”

Sheryl Pabatao told the station that she encouraged her mom to stay strong, and her mom hung up from the call. When Susana called Sheryl back later that afternoon, she told her daughter: "Make sure you get everything ready. Get my 401(k) ready, get all the paperwork ready …. Take care of your brother, OK? 'Cause you and your siblings gotta love each other. I just can’t do this anymore."

Susana Pabatao was intubated the night her husband died, and she died four days later, according to reports.

Sheryl Pabatao told CBS News that what happened to her parents is every family's worst nightmare.

"In a way, it felt like [my mom] died of COVID-19, but she also died of a broken heart," she told CBS News. "I don’t wish this to my worst enemy at all. I don’t wish this upon anybody. When they got cremated, we couldn’t even hug each other. We just FaceTimed, and then we prayed through FaceTime. That’s how we had their service."