Dominick York lost his dad to COVID-19 on Monday.
"It does not seem real at all. I'm thinking I'm going to wake up at any moment… like this is a nightmare."
Less than 24 hours after learning his father passed away – he spoke with us about the devastating coronavirus that is taking lives at an alarming rate.
He says his father – 69-year-old Shelley York – started out with what he thought was a head cold in mid-March. By the end of the month – he complained of shortness of breath. That's when Dominic took him to an urgent care clinic.
"Sad to say, that was the last time I actually got to see him."
"After urgent care, they said, 'hey he's having shortness of breath, his temperature is real low, has pneumonia, we've got to take him to the ER.'"
Dominic said at the time, visitors were not allowed inside the hospital, so every update he and his family got was by phone.
"Throughout the weeks he was steadily improving, steady improving... then Saturday and Sunday, we were told his kidneys are shutting down and finally we got that call last night at 8:03. 'Hey, your dad passed away. He held on longer than we thought.'"
While the York family begins their grieving process, Dominic has a message for anyone listening.
"Don't let this be your mom, don't let this be your dad, don't let this be your grandparent. I challenge you at least for 14 days – don't go to the store unless you absolutely need anything!"
"We've got to look out for one another if we want to flatten this curve. We've got to. We've got to love each other."
"We will get through this but we've got to help each other out."
Shelley York loved to fish. In fact, Dominic told us the two had just planned a fishing trip for August, where he was planning on finally learning how to change the reel. Now he's left to figure it out without his dad.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the York family and all the families grieving tonight.