Lisa Marie Thomas had finally come around to the decision to get vaccinated. Her appointment was set for Sept. 3.
Then the 36-year-old Niagara Falls mother of four started feeling sick. She initially brushed off the postnasal drip and stuffed-up ears as seasonal allergies, or maybe from swimming in a pool a few days earlier.
But her symptoms grew more serious – she was having trouble breathing – and her husband took her to Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston.
Thomas tested positive for Covid-19 and her oxygen level was down to 65%. That was on Sept. 2.
A month and a half later, after starting to show signs of improvement, her condition suddenly worsened. Her mother and sister rushed to the hospital and were suiting up in gowns and masks when Thomas' heart stopped. Her hospital room filled with the sounds of alarms and beeping but there was nothing the doctors and nurses could do.
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Her sister, Jamee Knowles, who recounted her sister's illness, went to her bedside.
"I promise you, I'll take care of your kids. I'll make sure to always take care of them," Knowles said she vowed.
Now, Knowles, who lives in the Town of Tonawanda, and her whole family are doing everything they can to keep that promise by providing some comfort this Christmas to Thomas' grieving children: Xavier, 15; Demetrius "Meechy," 13, Gabriella, 7; and Cah-ya, 2.
Cah-ya Thomas, 2, and her sister Gabriella, 7, snuggle with their grandmother Debbie Hatswell, Lisa's mother.
"It's the hardest on her because she's so young," Knowles said. "She keeps asking where her mom is."
Knowles also hopes that the tragedy that has struck her family will convince more people to get a Covid-19 vaccination.
Everyone else in the family had gotten their shots, she said, including Thomas' husband. They were especially concerned about transmitting the virus to Knowles and Thomas' mother, Deborah Hatswell, who has Stage 3 pancreatic cancer.
But Thomas was nervous about possible side effects. "She didn't want anything to happen to her by getting vaccinated," Knowles said. But she also was worried about getting Covid.
Yet, she opted to wait.
Lisa Thomas, a mother of four, died of Covid in October at age 36. Her sister Jamee Knowles, a mother of three, started a Gofundme page to help buy Christmas presents for the children. The children are seen here at their grandmother Debbie Hatswell's house after a sleepover. From left are Demetrius Thomas, 13, Cah-ya Thomas, 2, Jamee Knowles, Debbie Hatswell, Gabriella Thomas, 7, and Xavier Thomas, 15.
The family's not sure how Thomas caught Covid.
A bunch of family members got together about a week earlier to celebrate Xavier's birthday and the parents' wedding anniversary. They rented cabins in Grand Island and spent the weekend playing, swimming and hanging out around campfires. It would be the last time they were all together as a family. After that weekend, Thomas went back to work as a nurse's aide at the Arc, working with people who have disabilities.
Once Thomas was hospitalized, the rest of the family quarantined. But even after staying isolated, they couldn't visit Thomas in the hospital because Covid patients aren't allowed visitors.
The family had to quarantine again after another family member caught Covid. That time, it spread through the family.
"My mom, my son, my husband, her youngest, Cah-ya, my other sister and my brother all tested positive," Knowles said.
Knowles' son, just 6 months old at the time, had breathing problems and spent one night in the hospital, but recovered quickly. Knowles thinks it's because she was fully vaccinated and was breastfeeding him, providing him with her antibodies.
Everyone else had mild symptoms, even Hatswell, although her cancer made it hard to tell. The adults were all vaccinated, Knowles said.
After Lisa Thomas died of Covid in October, her sister Jamee Knowles and family set up a gofundme.com to help buy Christmas presents for Lisa's four children.
While Thomas was in the hospital, Hatswell's cancer grew worse. She learned that it had spread and doctors told her that chemo and radiation wouldn't work anymore. They said she likely had just a couple of months to live.
Their grandmother also got Covid and died five days before Thomas died. She was 94.
Thomas died on Oct. 12. She was five days shy of her 37th birthday.
Lisa Thomas' mother Debbie Hatswell has an ornament with a photo of Lisa with her angel wings on the Christmas tree.
Knowles said her sister had been a healthy young woman. "She was very healthy. She didn't smoke, drink, do drugs. No underlying health issues," she said. "My sister just got a very bad case of it. It's so sad."
Now, her children will grow up without their mother.
"That's all I think about. I could never imagine my children growing up without me," she said.
That's why Knowles said she tells everyone she meets to get vaccinated. Covid-19 has claimed 419 lives in Niagara County as of Dec. 1, and 2,151 in Erie County as of Dec. 3. More deaths are expected with Western New York in the midst of a wave of new Covid cases and hospitalizations.
"My family is a clear indication. It can literally happen to anyone," she said.
Lisa Thomas, mother of four, died of Covid in October at age 36. Her daughter Gabriella Thomas, 7, finds comfort in wearing her mom's "Lion King" sweatshirt.
To take care of her ailing mother and to also help her brother-in-law take care of her sister's children, Knowles quit her job. That, along with the cost of her sister's funeral services, has been difficult financially, Knowles said.
She started a Gofundme fundraiser to help pay for Christmas presents for the four children. "I just want them to have a good Christmas," she said.
Knowles asked the children what they'd like for Christmas.
Meechy's answer broke her heart: "I just want my mom back."
