At just nine years old, triplets Molly, Zoey and Kate are learning how to live life without their mom by their side.
AnaLise Long died after complications from COVID-19 on June 25.
The 47-year-old tested positive at the end of April when she was admitted to the hospital following a fainting spell.
As a diabetic and survivor of spinal meningitis, the virus hit Long hard.
She was intubated but bounced back.
“Even though she had some health issues, AnaLise was always a fighter and she was always going to try to beat the odds. She was actually able to get off the ventilator sooner than they anticipated initially,” her brother Zak Cernoch said.
Long graduated to a rehabilitation hospital where she was to learn how to walk again. But not long after she arrived, she hit a roadblock and her kidneys and liver failed.
“She had fought valiantly as long as she could as hard as she could, but her body wasn’t in a position to ever fully recover for contracting the virus and the impact that had on her other health conditions,” Cernoch said.
It was a setback that took her back to the hospital and put her back on a ventilator.
On June 25, her daughters and husband Donald said their final goodbyes.
Like a lot of families, Long’s loved ones in Dallas and from her hometown of San Antonio will have to wait for the pandemic to slow to say their final goodbyes.
While they wait, Cernoch said they’re watching the case count climb, knowing that behind each number is a family like theirs.
“It does have a ripple effect, and nothing will ever be the same in our lives or many people’s lives. So we just encourage folks to follow what your local health experts are saying, what they’re indicating. Stay home if you can. Wear your mask. Wash your hands, all of that advice that we’re getting,” Cernoch said. “Let’s not let those habits slip away. Recommit to doing those things and really try to put this past us and get on with the next phase of what life will be for many of us.”
The family has received a huge outpouring of support from those who knew Long from childhood in San Antonio, her work in the financial industry in Dallas and her most proud role as a stay-at-home mom to her three girls.
“She’ll always live on through them,” Cernoch said.
To make sure Long’s daughters’ futures aren’t hampered by the medical bills she leaves behind, friends of the family started a GoFundMe to provide assistance for them.
