WHITE COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of heartbreak for families as they are forced to grieve over lives lost too soon.
Stacey Hensley being one of them.
Hensley was only 48 years old. She was a friend to everyone and as a healthcare worker, she was always there to help. Those who knew her dubbed her with the nickname 'mom.'
"She was just a lovely, happy, bubbly person," Louise Johnson said about her daughter.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that everything changed for the Hensley family.
"She was just sitting in that chair and we were just talking about stuff like normal," Dillon Hensley, Stacey's oldest son, said. "You just don't know. Something unexpected can happen to anyone."
Stacey didn't get vaccinated because she had serious allergic reactions in the past.
This also wasn't the first time she got COVID. She had it in January, but at the end of July she came down with the delta variant. It would prove to be a different battle as she was admitted to the hospital.
"We FaceTimed a couple times," Dillon said. "You can't get back there at all to visit them and that's one of the worst things about this. You can't go see your loved ones."
"She FaceTimed me Saturday before she passed, and you know, she was just wanting to come home because things weren't getting any better, Tommy Hensley, Stacey's husband, said. "That was tough and I couldn't get in there. That was the hardest part I couldn't get to her."
Stacey died Saturday, August 7th.
The family was once reluctant to get the vaccine. Now, they are all planning to get the shot.
"Yeah, I was hesitant. I was one that did not want to take it, but after seeing what can happen I'm getting mine," Tommy said.
Stacey worked at Searcy Medical Center's COVID-19 test lab. The family said her coworkers are putting up a plaque in her honor.