Married Grand Rapids Couple Die One Minute Apart From Covid While Holding Hands
Cal Dunham, 59, and wife Linda, 66, died holding hands Sunday after contracting the coronavirus earlier this month. Both were fully vaccinated. The couple, who had undisclosed underlying health conditions, became sick earlier this month during a family camping trip.
Their daughter, Sarah Dunham told Fox 17,
[My dad] called me before our family camping trip and said he wasn’t feeling good but he thinks it’s just like sinus, and [Linda] caught it and she’s like, 'he gave me his cold.' The third day they woke me up and said, "We’ve got to go because we don’t feel well.” So I packed them all up and they left.'
Both suffered from pre-existing conditions. They were hospitalized and placed on ventilators. They died while holding hands; Cal passed away at 11:07 a.m., and his wife followed at 11:08 a.m.
On May 15, Cal Dunham updated his Facebook profile picture to demonstrate his vaccination status. According to the CDC, unvaccinated people are more than 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19. However, it is not known how long the immunity of a vaccine lasts. It’s not clear whether the couple received a third booster shot.
At least 65 percent of Americans have now had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, with 56 percent of the US population fully inoculated against the virus.
A GoFund Me page has been set up to help pay for the funeral expenses of the couple. The account which was created 2 days ago has acquired $1795 of the $10,000 goal.
The story of this couple has been picked up globally by Daily Mail. It has also been reported by International Business Times. The heart-breaking, touching event has been noted by international publications Metropoles, and Bild.