A 40-year-old Miami-Dade County man has died of coronavirus with previous health complications, according to family members.
#IsraelCarreras is one of the two first coronavirus-related deaths in the city. On Friday, police identified Carreras as the first, and later that evening, a second was confirmed, but no details have been released, WSVN reports. Friends of Carreras said the man contracted the disease during the Winter Party Festival in Miami, which is where many other cases were reported.
According to Carreras’ partner, Franco Conquista, Carreras was at home on his own when but grew sicker as time went on. Carreras eventually passed away after being taken to hospital. “He started to feel sick after the event,” Conquista said. “We went together. I went to his place, taking care of him for two days, and I also had it. He couldn’t breathe, so he wanted to go to the hospital, and then he was at the hospital for four or five days. Then, they put him to sleep because he was really agitated, and then, he never woke up again.”
Carreras lived in Miami for several years but would send money to his family in Cuba every month. “Israel was a very hard-working man,” Conquista said. “He was full of energy, and he was working 13, 14 hours a day, so he could provide for himself and provide for his family back in Cuba.” The hardworking man was an employee during the day at a warehouse and made extra money as an Uber driver.
Health officials say Carreras had to put into an induced coma because he was having severe trouble breathing and needed to be put on a respirator, a common practice with patients who are having respiratory difficulties. Doctors say patients sometimes feel like they are drowning when placed on a ventilator and will sometimes pull out the respirator. For this reason, health officials put people into comas, so they don’t try to pull the respirator out.
Conquista is currently at home in isolation, where he says he feels distraught dealing with the passing of his love. “Just want people to know that this is serious,” Conquista said. “They need to stay at home. It doesn’t just kill old people. This poor boy only had 40 years old. It can kill anybody, so just stay home and think of other people. Try to save other people’s lives. Just because you are not affected directly doesn’t mean that people are not suffering from this.”
