Pandemic’s over? Tell that to this baby who just lost his mom

This story makes me so goddamn angry. Not just at the unfairness of a newborn little boy never being held by his mother. But the monumental arrogance and ignorance of the pandemic deniers.

A mother of now three boys lost her battle with COVID-19 before she could even meet her baby. Joanna Jimenez was already mom to 15-year-old Jordan and 18-month-old Christian. Her and Chad Augustus, her husband, were expecting a new baby when toward the end of the pregnancy she contracted the virus.

The same virus many dismissed as a head cold or no worse than a flu. The same pandemic some have said was over in April when it’s actually killed hundreds of thousands of Americans since. The same public health emergency during which some with no medical degrees are telling you to not wear masks and ignore safety protocols.

Well done, idiots.

So Joanna, at eight months pregnant, contracted this virus that’s no big deal during this pandemic that was over in April. She fell into such a weakened condition that she had to have an emergency delivery of the baby on Feb. 13. The baby was OK but she was not. Days later, she died. She never woke up from the procedure. She never held her baby, named Ashton. He will never know her. Her funeral was on Saturday. Baby Ashton was exactly two weeks old.

“I’m just trying to stay strong for the kids and for the family,” her husband told ABC-7.

"I'm so proud of her for the woman she became after she had kids — she dedicated her life to making sure her kids were good," said her brother John.

A dear friend named Cynthia spoke of how many memories and experiences they shared.

The biggest hurt will be her boys'. To help them begin living without their mother, a GoFundMe has been set up by loved ones. Donations and heartbreaking comments continue to pour in.

All this while other people dismiss the virus that has killed 514,000 Americans as not a big deal.

One day Ashton will read about all of it. Maybe you folks who like to quote discredited people like Dr. Mercola or cite debunked scientific studies would like to explain to Ashton how his mother could have died over a virus you said not to take seriously.

I’m sure he’ll be interested someday in your crackpot theories on how a pandemic that was over in April of 2020 could have killed his mother in February of 2021.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.