5 kids orphaned ‘after mother’s boss ignored coronavirus symptoms, went to work and spread it’
Five young children have lost both parents to coronavirus after their mom’s boss allegedly ignored symptoms and went to work before spreading the disease. Karina Bonilla, 38, died of Covid-19 on Monday, a day after her 60 year-old husband Humberto Ruelas-Rivas succumbed to the disease at a Los Angeles hospital.
The couple’s five children, aged two to 17, have now been left without a parent, with Ruelas-Rivas daughter from a previous relationship Maria Ruelas, 35, set to care for her step-siblings.
Maria told KTLA that she believes her stepmom fell ill after going to work as a fruit vendor, with her boss continuing to work despite displaying Covid-19 symptoms. She explained: ‘Karina went to work and in less than a week she started presenting symptoms. She went home and then my father started getting sick.’
Maria’s sister, who is 30, was also struck down with coronavirus, and will now be cared for by her older sibling after the virus caused her to suffer a stroke.
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Maria, who is working to gain legal custody of her step-siblings, said: ‘It’s gonna be a struggle. I don’t have children of my own and now I know maybe this is the reason why… I’m happy to do it in the memory of my father.’
She said it was ‘devastating’ to lose her father without being able to say a proper goodbye because of social distancing guidance aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus.
Maria, who is engaged, says the tragedy that has befallen her family has left her terrified of Covid-19, and urged everyone else to take the threat as seriously as possible.
She said: ‘I saw a lot of (people) without masks. That terrified me. That virus took my family away.’ Coronavirus has now infected more than two million American people, and killed over 110,000.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Maria and her family. To donate click here
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