A father in Plantation, Florida, is fighting for his life after contracting the coronavirus. Forty-two-year-old John Place is just one of more than 327K Floridians to have tested positive for the virus, which has taken over the Sunshine State in the last five weeks. However, few have a story quite like Place, who reportedly contracted the virus from his 21-year-old son, who ignored his father's pleas to wear a mask.
The young man, who has not been named publicly, is believed to have brought the virus home unknowingly last month.
Both his father and his stepmother, Michelle Zymet, reportedly begged him to avoid going out with friends and to always wear a mask whenever he left the house. But those requests seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
The entire family was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after the 21-year-old returned from a night out with friends, sans mask.
Although other family members appear to have recovered, Place's conditioned worsened and eventually required hospitalization.
Place has been hospitalized since late June, when he was placed on a ventilator for several weeks. According to his wife, the 42-year-old father suffers from diabetes and is overweight, which puts him at greater risk of serious illness.
Zymet told 7 News Miami that she did her best to urge all of her children to be safe as numbers grew in Florida.
But when it came to her 21-year-old stepson, warnings weren't enough.
"I pleaded with him every time he left the house, 'Please wear your mask, take sanitizer, make sure you're constantly washing your hands,'" Zymet told the news outlet. "He always assured me, 'Don't worry, mom. I'm doing everything right, relax, chill.' You know how these kids are, so I trusted in him."
The 21-year-old removed his mask while out with friends so that he could drink and eat. But apparently, that's all it took for the virus to spread.
Several days later, he began feeling cold-like symptoms, and at another get-together, a friend told him she had tested positive for the virus. In the days that followed, the young man's entire family tested positive for it.
"You let your guard down just one time, it's all it takes," Zymet said. "You come home, and you infect the entire house."
As for why it may be harder to convince young people about the seriousness, Zymet says it's a variety of factors.
"They don't necessarily listen," she explained. "It could be peer pressure. Maybe they think, 'None of us are sick. We are fine.' They don't understand many of us are asymptomatic and are positive carriers of the virus."
The family is sharing their story now in hopes of warning others about the very real risks the virus poses.
"We are trying to open everyone's eyes that by not wearing a mask, washing your hands frequently and by not social distancing you are putting yourself at risk and of those at home that you love … each and every day," Zymet wrote in a Facebook post last week.
"In the end we are all just praying hard that John fights this battle and beats this d— virus and comes home safely to us so we can take care of him," she added.
"If anything else, this has really brought our family closer together — we are a united front and we truly just want to send the message out there that you all really need to take this seriously and do your part to keep yourself and those you love from catching this deadly disease that has taken way too many lives already!"
Florida is facing a crippling coronavirus surge, with an average of 10,000 new cases being reported each day.
ICU beds are either at capacity or near-capacity in many counties, as the health care community continues to stretch itself thin. According to a new report, Florida leads the nation in terms of COVID-19 cases per capita — a grim statistic that experts say could have been avoided.
Back in May, Florida was being prematurely applauded for fending off the virus and doing so by not instating strict social distancing or mask-wearing guidelines. Now, some two months later, it's clear that catastrophe was simply lying in wait and that reopening too soon, coupled with limited safety restrictions, amplified the spread.
"Despite the guidelines and the recommendations to open up carefully and prudently, some states skipped over those and just opened up too quickly," Dr. Anthony Fauci said on FiveThirtyEight’s weekly "PODCAST-19" last month.
But Fauci wasn't just talking about Florida — experts have said that reopening too soon may also have been what led states such as Arizona and Texas to see a spike in COVID numbers too.
As for John Place, a recent update on his family's GoFundMe page shows some improvement in his condition.
"I am happy to report that although he is not in the clear yet John has gone from a 10 to a 9, from a ventilator to a BiPAP machine which is a miracle unto itself!!!" campaign organizer Ashley Berlin, wrote on the page July 15."Yes this means he is off the Ventilator. However, the Doctor has told us that we're not out of the woods yet and there is always the possibility that he may have to go back on the ventilator or other problems may arise but this is definitely some positive news."
For now, the family is hanging on to any hope they have that the 42-year-old will recover and not become yet another casualty of this pandemic, which has already claimed a staggering 141,849 American lives.
Zymet also has this message for teens and young adults, who may be shrugging off their parents' warnings to stay safe:
"You're not invincible. This is not a joke. This is a deadly, devastating disease that is affecting millions of people across the world. You need to listen and understand that you got to take the necessary precautions, Just wear the mask. At least wear your mask and try to wash your hands as often as you can."
