CNN reporter Sara Sidner broke down in tears live on air Tuesday morning as she reported from a California hospital where a woman lost both her parents to COVID-19 within 11 days and had to hold her mom’s funeral in a parking lot.
Sidner sobbed after sharing the heart-wrenching story from Juliana Jimenez Sesma, who begged people ‘don’t let this be you’ after her family’s double tragedy in a matter of days.
Sidner struggled to contain her emotions as she told viewers this was the tenth hospital she had been in and that it ‘is not okay what we’re doing to each other.’
She was reporting from Los Angeles, which is currently in the grips of the coronavirus crisis with intensive care units overflowing and one resident dying every eight minutes from the virus.
CNN reporter Sara Sidner broke down in tears live on air Tuesday morning as she reported from a California hospital where a woman lost both her parents to COVID-19 within 11 days and had to hold her mom’s funeral in a parking lot
‘You know this is the tenth hospital that I’ve been in,’ Sidner said, as her voice cracked and she started sobbing.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, before trying to start her commentary again.
‘This is the tenth -,’ she started before breaking down again.
‘I apologize. I’m going to try to get through this,’ said Sidner, as she paused to take breathe.
‘I’m going to try to get through this. This is the tenth hospital that I have been in, and to see the way that these families have to live after this and the heartache that goes so far and so wide.
‘It’s really hard to take. I’m sorry.’
Sidner started sobbing as Alison Kosik told her from the studio that she has nothing to apologize for and that seeing the heartbreak of families on the frontline is a ‘collective trauma that all of us are living through’.
Sidner managed to gather her words as she urged people to take the virus seriously and ‘do your part’.
‘It’s just not okay. It’s not okay what we’re doing to each other,’ she said.
‘These families should not be going through this. These families should not be going through this.
Sidner sobbed after sharing the heart-wrenching story from Juliana Jimenez Sesma, who begged people ‘don’t let this be you’ after her family’s double tragedy in a matter of days
Sidner struggled to contain her emotions as she told viewers this was the tenth hospital she had been in and that it ‘is not okay what we’re doing to each other’
‘No family should be going through this.’
She added: ‘So please, please listen to what this family is saying. Don’t let this be you.’
Sidner begged people to ‘do whatever you can’ to keep people safe from the deadly virus.
‘Do whatever you can to keep this from killing your family members and your neighbors and your friends and your teachers and doctors and firefighters,’ she said.
‘All of these people are here to help you but you have to do your part.’
Sidner’s emotional appearance came as she shared one family’s heartache from one of the current virus epicenters.
Sesma told CNN how her whole family was struck down with the virus back in December.
Sesma told CNN how her stepfather and mom were admitted to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South LA in December and died 11 days apart
Sesma said the family’s pain was drawn out further as they had to wait three weeks to hold her mom’s funeral (above)
Her stepfather, a handyman who suffered from asthma and diabetes, and her mom, a retired machinist who had a lung condition, both deteriorated and were admitted to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South LA.
The couple then died in the hospital just 11 days apart.
Sesma recalled the last conversation she had with her mom before she died.
‘I told mom, “don’t be afraid, for the Lord is with us”,’ she said.
‘”I love you and may god bless us. Stay strong for me mom.” And all she answered me was “yes mija”‘ (Spanish for daughter).
Sesma said the family’s pain was drawn out further as they had to wait three weeks to hold her mom’s funeral, as funeral homes are inundated with the bodies of COVID-19 victims.
‘Waiting to bury her, that felt like torture. We worried about how she’d look,’ she said.
They ended up having to hold the service in a parking lot where they set up a canopy and spaced out chairs for social distancing, while a mariachi band played music.
Sesma urged people to ‘take extra precautions, exaggerate if you have to’ to stay safe as she warned ‘don’t let this be you’.
‘We lost both my mom and stepdad to coronavirus,’ Sesma said.
They ended up having to hold the service in a parking lot (above) where they set up a canopy and spaced out chairs for social distancing, while a mariachi band played music
Sesma urged people to ‘take extra precautions, exaggerate if you have to’ to stay safe as she warned ‘don’t let this be you’
‘Don’t let this be you. If you truly love your loved ones, don’t let this be you. Continue to take all the precautions, take extra precautions, exaggerate if you have to.’
The grieving family is just one of thousands in California mourning the loss of loved ones as the state’s healthcare system buckles under the weight of the pandemic.
The post-Christmas surge is still hammering the Golden State, with another 36,487 infections recorded Monday.
Another 548 people died that day, marking a 1.8 percent increase from the day before.
To date, more than 2.7 million Californians have contracted the virus and 30,513 have died.
Hospitalizations reached 22,665, an increase of 36 from the day before, with 4,962 of these patients in the ICU.
Just 1,229 ICU beds are now available across the entire state which has a population of around 40 million.
Hospitals in hard-hit Southern California are already overwhelmed with several having no beds available and being forced to set up makeshift overspill sites to try to take on more patients.
In hard-hit LA County, 11,914 new cases were recorded Tuesday, with 10 residents testing positive for the virus every minute.
Another 288 died from the virus. This was down slightly from Monday’s tally of 318 which marked the joint deadliest day on record for the county.
At the current rate of deaths, one person is dying from the virus every eight minutes.
In total, 12,674 have died and 944,319 have been infected.
The situation is so dire that ambulance crews have been advised to only bring patients to hospital if they have a chance of survival while residents are being told to wear masks inside their own homes to stop spread among family members.
On Tuesday, 7,926 people were hospitalized with the virus.
Nationwide, three Americans died of COVID-19 every minute with the daily death toll spiking to a record high of 4,327 deaths.
This brings the total death toll to more than 380,000 – more than the past 10 flu seasons combined – and the seven-day rolling average is now at more than 3,200 per day.
