On July 15th, 2021, my father went to Kaiser’s ER for hiccups. He had them nonstop for about a week. He has had hiccups before, 2-3 years prior.

He was given some medicine to help with the hiccups and the hiccups stopped but returned after he ate. The hiccups caused him some trouble with breathing, he would gasp for air and wouldn’t be able to sleep. We went back to the ER at Kaiser on July 16th and he was given a different drug which made him fatigued and didn’t help with his hiccups.

On July 17th, we went to Saint John’s hospital. He was admitted and went inside alone. During his stay we were only allowed to facetime him and couldn’t be there with him.  I couldn’t help him with the medical paperwork, translation, ask questions or be there to give my opinion to my dad.

The last time he called us he sounded worried and nervous.  He told my mother that he didn’t think the doctors would let him come home. He told my mother that he couldn’t see and thinks it was because of the insulin injection they gave him around July 20th. He never took insulin at home. He kept his diabetes in check, ate well, never went to the hospital for any diabetic problems.

His final contact with us was on July 21st at 2am. His voice sounded well, he didn’t sound sick and we heard no hiccups during the phone call. They made him stay at Saint Johns because he tested positive for Sars-cov-2 on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

July 21st at 8am we got a phone call from his doctor telling us that he had to get intubated. She told us if he didn’t get intubated he would die because he had Covid pneumonia. Saint John’s has a protocol they have to follow once a patient tests positive for Covid and is put in the ICU. Two nurses and two doctors I spoke to confirmed this to me and they both work at  Saint John’s.

He died August 17th, 2021.

A few months later, I was at a protest to stand against medical tyranny. A woman plowed her car into 3 of us protestors. I also lost a leg as a result. I am a US Marine.