A Tinley Park mother says her daughter died just three days after the otherwise healthy teenager was hospitalized in the coronavirus just before Christmas.
Sarah Simental, a senior in Lincoln-Way East who just turned 18 last month, reported a mild headache for the first time on Dec. 16, Deborah Simental said. The next day she felt overcrowded and had a sore throat.
“My immediate thought was that these are symptoms of COVID,” Deborah Simental said.
Outside her home, Simental had only seen her boyfriend before she experienced symptoms, her mother said.
On Friday, her symptoms continued as she developed fever, chills and vomiting.
On Saturday morning, her mother took her to get a coronavirus test and that evening her results came back positive.
Early Wednesday morning, Simental was taken to Silver Cross Hospital after experiencing pain in her left shoulder. While she was there, her oxygen levels dropped and Simental was placed in a ventilator and brought to the intensive care unit.
Due to coronavirus protocols, Deborah Simental could not see her daughter while she was in the hospital, but she did have a telephone conversation with her when she moved to the ICU.
“I said, ‘It’s going to be good,’ and she knew she was going to miss Christmas. She loved Christmas,” Deborah Simental said. “The last words she said to me were, ‘Mom, this is going to be okay.'”
On Christmas Eve, Simental said she could finally visit her daughter, but by that time the teenager was already stunned.
“I can only hope she could hear me while I was talking to her,” Deborah Simental said.
On Christmas Day, the 18-year-old was transported by helicopter to the University of Chicago Medical Center and on December 26, she passed away.
“It was so fast,” Deborah Simental said. ‘No underlying conditions. She was a very healthy, 18-year-old young lady. We were proactive with health, we all got flu shots and knew the importance because I stressed it all the time when it came to social distance and making sure we had masks. ‘
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, Simental died of acute hypoxic respiratory failure due to coronavirus.
“It took her. It took her – a perfectly healthy 18-year-old girl,” said Deborah Simental. “I still can’t fold my head over it.”
Simental Family
The family said it remained unclear how Simental contracted the virus.
The teenager’s mother, boyfriend and her boyfriend’s father all tested negative after her diagnosis.
“I really have no idea how she got it,” Deborah Simental said.
Simental’s family said they hope sharing her story will help others realize the seriousness of the pandemic.
“There are people out there who do not take it seriously. Her father and I are here to tell you that it really is,” said Deborah Simental. “There will be more holidays, birthdays, all these occasions we can not do. You will have it again. It took my daughter and we are not going to be able to have it again.”
A visit to Simental was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Orland Park, but due to coronavirus restrictions, only ten people were allowed at a time and masks and social distances had to be taken away. The family also plans to have a private funeral.
Simental is remembered as bold, friendly and an animal lover who volunteered at local animal shelters. Her obituary states that she was “loved by her hairy best friend Bailey.”
Instead of flowers, her family is asking for donations to PAWS from Tinley Park at pawstinleypark.org/donate.
“Please wear a mask, social distance. Do not worry about the event for these events, just wait until it is under control,” said Deborah Simental. “You are not in the position I and her father are in right now. No one should bury their child. No parent needs to watch their child go through what my daughter went through. It was a nightmare.”