AVONDALE, AZ — A Valley man is finding things to be thankful for this holiday, despite losing his father to a battle with COVID-19.
Danny Duran said his father, Juan Duran, 72, died at the end of July after contracting COVID-19 and spending a month in a Valley hospital.
FULL SECTION: Everything you need to know about coronavirus
"The two weeks before he passed we were going to the hospital every single night, basically to go pray in the parking lot," Duran said.
Duran told ABC15 his father wound up on a ventilator as his condition deteriorated. At the end of July, he said a nurse called to report it wasn't looking good.
"Basically my family, we called the nurse and said let's go ahead and pull the ventilator," he said. "We sat in the parking lot of the hospital FaceTiming the nurse watching my dad pass, is how I saw my dad die."
Duran said the experience was hard to process. "You really can't mentally prepare for it," he said. "It's happening in front of you, I was probably so numb to this whole thing."
Duran told ABC15 his father served in the Marine Corps, was a Vietnam vet and would help anyone who needed it. "Really good guy," Duran said.
Despite a difficult year, Duran is still thankful this Thanksgiving. "I am thankful for my and my family's health," he said. "My job, we've never stopped working."
He also has a message for others about the virus.
"You've got to live your life," he said. "We've had lots of viruses that we've gone through. At the same time, you've got to take your precautions. Wear your mask when you're around a crowd of people. Wash your hands. Know it's real."
