It is time for some truth telling even though many reading this, who know us and who knew our son, may not believe the story. My son, age 44, was divorced and had two children below the age of 18. That meant my husband and I were his next of kin and had sole medical power of attorney at the time he was admitted to an ICU in Roanoke, VA. This was on the 21st of October 2021.

My son first started showing symptoms of illness around October 12. He lived alone and it was not unusual for him not to respond to text or phone messages even though he lived only 8 miles away. We knew he wasn't feeling well and tried to find out how he was doing by sending text messages. By the 15th I started feeling unwell. By the 16th I was quite ill and knew I could have Covid so I started using the FLCCC (Front Line Covid Critical Care) protocol. I already had on hand everything listed in the protocol including a prescription for oral Ivermectin. This was the day I texted my son and shared the protocol with him.

My husband saw our son on the 17th and gave him some of my oral Ivermectin. We did not provide him with Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Quercetin, Zinc or other recommended supplements though his ex-wife provided those upon her return. On that day he was staying with his children at his ex-wife's home since she was out of town. He was supposed to pick up his ex-wife from a local airport but asked his dad to go instead. He did not feel well.

By the 19th of October, my husband started having similar symptoms to mine yet not as severe. Even though I was using the FLCCC protocol I was not improving as quickly as I expected, and my husband took time off work due to his symptoms and mine. On October 20 my husband texted my son to ask how he was feeling. We hadn't heard from him in 3 days. When he did not respond to the text message, my husband called him. He did pick up the phone stating "I'm okay. I'm trying to just get some rest if everyone would just leave me alone." With that, we decided not to press him and to respect his wishes. That was a fatal error.

On the evening of October 21 we got a call from my former daughter-in-law saying she got a call from my son's best friend who expressed concern because my son was not responding to text messages or calls. He told her he was going to my son's apartment to see for himself if everything was okay. He wanted my son's ex-wife to go along since she had a key to his apartment. When they arrived, my son was extremely weak and short of breath. His color was dusky, but he did follow commands and was able to communicate verbally. The best friend called the rescue squad, and he was taken to our local hospital. Because of Covid policy no one was allowed to accompany him. Shortly after arriving at the ER, he was transferred to the hospital in Roanoke.

My husband and I got a call from a physician in ICU around 2 a.m. the same night/morning telling us our son was "gravely ill" and would likely not survive the night. What?? A 44 yr. old man who 6 hours earlier had been able to communicate is now at death's door? No! The main purpose of his call was to establish next of kin and MPOA. He wanted to know about DNR status. What???? NO! At that point our son had already been placed on a ventilator and MAY have already been given Remdesivir. We don't know at what point that drug was administered, we only know it was given at some point early in his stay.

The next calls from this hospital all involved getting as much information about insurance coverage, income, etc. Who would be responsible for paying his bill? He had no insurance and was working a part-time job and we provided that information to the billing department of the hospital.

Normally I would have been quite assertive in my requests to the hospital staff, but my illness had created such brain fog I was struggling to make sense of my environment and didn't have enough energy to get up from the couch. My husband was more able and therefore took the calls and made notes best he could. We both knew it was no use to request implementation of the FLCCC protocol for my son. We had read about others who tried to do this for their loved ones with no success.

By the 25th of October I was feeling very sick and told my husband "I don't think I'm going to make it". That really scared him so we made an appointment to see my doctor who prescribed steroids and home oxygen though I could tell she thought I should be hospitalized. I was firm in my resolve NOT to go to a hospital. My husband took a home COVID test (required by his employer) on October 22. He tested positive. I never tested. I didn't need to based on the symptoms I was experiencing.

We had a pulse oximeter and were measuring both our O2 sats. We both were in bed on oxygen, taking our supplements and steroids AND taking calls from the doctors in the ICU about our son. We were continually being asked about his code status. Each time we insisted he WAS to be resuscitated if his heart stopped. By this time, my son's kidneys had started failing and he was placed on dialysis.

We were told we could not visit our son even had we been symptom free. The policy was no visitors AT ALL. We were allowed the see and speak to our son using a video chat program. We saw him each day - on the ventilator and with what seemed to be dozens of IV lines hanging around him. They were giving him drugs for infection, blood pressure issues, blood clots, diabetes and other problems I can't recall. Like I said the information was daunting and my brain not working normally.

Shortly after going on home oxygen, my husband decided to increase our dose of Ivermectin to the maximum recommended dose which was to be given if symptoms were not resolving. That did the trick for us both. The next day I started improving, my O2 saturation improved, and I began to feel some strength returning. My husband was improving as well. We had saved ourselves using the protocol.

The next 3 weeks were overwhelming with calls from ICU each day bringing news of improvements then major declines in our son's status. At least twice we were told he was experiencing septic shock, would not live and, if he did, brain damage was likely. They kept trying to confirm his code status. Each time we directed our son should be resuscitated.

We have two sons. Our oldest son lives in France and was uncertain about whether to come home based on the information at hand. One day we were given hope, the next day our son was certain to die. Finally, on November 11th we were told to come to the hospital if we wanted to see our son. His vital signs were so erratic they felt death was close. We gathered up his children (ages 14 and 16) and his ex-wife determined we would all see our son IN PERSON before he died. At that time, we still were directing the doctors to resuscitate him if his heart stopped. We could tell they had little hope for our son.

The hospital was going to "generously" allow my husband and I to visit our son but continued to refuse to allow his children in the room. Mind you, even in the "COVID ward" there were no PPEs in place except masks. None of the staff wore anything but scrubs and masks. On that Thursday, we all gathered around our son and poured out our love for him. We cried, we grieved, we hoped but we could see there was very little life in him.

On Saturday, November 13, we gave consent for "comfort care" which meant disconnecting the ventilator. They were not going to let his children in the room unless we consented to "comfort care". His heart stopped within minutes, and he was gone.

What I know now is our son was likely killed by the hospital protocol. He never had a chance once the rescue squad picked him up. The FLCCC protocol may have saved our son if the hospital had used it. It appears his death was more profitable.

Fairfield, VA