Healthy Florida Father, 39, Dies Of Coronavirus After Hospital Turns Him Away For Testing: “They Didn’t Want To Test Him Due To His Age”

A Florida father who was in perfectly good health has died after contracting coronavirus.

On March 14, 39-year-old #ConradBuchanan began feeling sick, and when his wife Nicole Buchanan tried to get him tested for the coronavirus, he was denied. “We couldn’t get him tested. I fought and fought and fought,” she said. Because he had no previous health issues, doctors turned him away. 

“They didn’t want to test him due to his age and (because) he had no underlying health issues.” Eventually, Conrad’s sickness got so bad that Nicole had to be taken to the hospital where he was immediately intubated on March 22. Nicole didn’t know that while she was parking the car, that would be the last time she ever saw her husband. “I walked up to the doors. The hospital’s on lockdown. They wouldn’t let anybody in after that,” she said. “I never got to say, ‘I love you.'”

Conrad was young and very energetic, according to his wife and daughter. Nicole wants the world to know that the outbreak is not a joke, and your age or medical history doesn’t matter. “I need everybody to know that this is serious. People think that it’s just going to affect people with underlying health issues, old people. But it doesn’t,” she said. “And seeing what my husband had to go through was horrible. And now our life has turned into this horrible nightmare.”

Nicole has also tested positive for coronavirus. She said that her symptoms are not extreme but she has lost her sense of smell and taste. She is currently awaiting her daughter’s results. “We just overall shared everything. He brought me to school, he brought me to ballet. He was my everything, said her daughter, Skye. The young girl remembers her father’s amazing DJing skills and his poor dancing skills. 

“It was funny because he could perform in front of like millions of people when he DJ’d, but (when) he danced … it wasn’t the best,” Skye said, laughing. Skye and Nicole want everyone to be uplifted during this time but to also take the pandemic very seriously. “Find your rhythm in life. Listen to the beat. Dance and express yourself in order to connect with people from all walks of life,” Skye said. “You guys have to take this seriously,” she said. “I would hate for anybody — anyone else’s family or children — to have to go through what we’ve gone through. Our hospital systems aren’t ready. Just stay home.”