More Than a Number: Macon man remembers his sister who died from COVID-19
In Georgia, the virus has taken over 11,000 people. Each one is more than just a number with their own family, career, and story. Robin Sadler Markey is one of them.
'The ones that you love, tell them'
The first COVID-19 case in the U.S. was reported in Washington State on January 20, 2020.
The first death came on February 29th, 2020.
A year later, over 400,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.
Right here in Georgia, the virus has taken over 11,000 people.
Each one is more than just a number with their own family, career and story.
Robin Sadler Markey is one of them.
"We were just a close family to start with, and you just never dream of losing your sister," says her older brother, Tommy Sadler.
Growing up, Sadler says his sister was the quietest of the four siblings.
"She stayed to herself reading a lot," he remembers. "She never got into the trouble that me and my little brother and sister did."
Sadler was in the hospital himself with COVID-19 over the summer. He says his sister called and texted every day he was there.
"She was my biggest cheerleader."
10 days after he went home, Markey tested positive and was admitted to the hospital.
"She was fighting it. We just all assumed she was going to be in the hospital for a while and be fine because she didn't have the bad problems I had."
In the beginning, she had pneumonia in one lung and low oxygen levels.
"Then all of a sudden her lung collapsed."
Markey was put on a ventilator for 3 weeks.
"I mean, it was a spiraling slope downhill from there."
Sadler says she died soon after.
"You think you're ready to hear it. You think you've geared up for that kind of announcement, but you never really are."
COVID-19 victims in Central Georgia: More than a number
Sadler says with the death toll of the virus, he knows his family isn't alone in that feeling.
"There's so many people that's got stories like me that have lost loved ones," he says. "Really, really, the ones that you love, tell them. Tell them every day because you never know when the day comes you can't tell them."
Sadler says Markey's absence was felt over the holidays, but the family is learning to live with the memories.
He says now, his other sister Wendy was in the hospital fighting COVID-19 as well, but now, she is back home and recovering.