"It was like walking into a horror movie," explained Lisa Steadman.
The 58-year-old woman had spent more than a week admitted to the Central Florida hospital, receiving treatment after catching the coronavirus, while her husband, Ronald Steadman, recovered in the family home from moderate symptoms of the same disease.
Neither of them was vaccinated.
During that time, the man had been a great support to her in the phone calls they shared regularly, she told The Washington Post.
"I thought I was going to die. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't stop vomiting. It's like you don't have bones in your body," he told Fox 13 station.
In those conversations, she told him about her fear of dying alone in the hospital and together they thought about returning to a house in Winter Haven, Florida, that they were renovating.
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Days before being discharged, Lisa lost contact by phone with her husband.
When he returned home on August 18, Ronald Steadman, 55, did not appear to be there.
The woman called him and searched until the barking of the dogs led her to the marriage room.
Steadman found her husband's body on the bed, with no signs of life.
The dogs appeared to have not been fed or received water for at least two days, he told the newspaper.
"I got hysterical," she recounted, "it was like walking into a horror movie."
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The couple were among the millions of people in the United States who have yet to receive the coronavirus vaccine, which is freely available to anyone 12 and older.
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In Florida, in particular, about half of residents are not fully immunized despite the state facing a wave of infections and deaths from the virus like never before in the pandemic.
"We both thought [the vaccine] came out so fast. How could they do so many tests with it? I was very cautious about it," the woman said.
The health authorities have insisted that the vaccines have all the safety protocols and significantly reduce the chances of becoming seriously ill or dying from the virus.
The Pfizer doses were approved in full this week and every day they save lives despite the fact that many insist on believing in superstitions and lies not to wear it.
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Ronald Steadman, a mechanical and electrical engineer, was the first to test positive and was seen at a walk-in clinic and sent home with medication because "he wasn't in danger or anything; it was like he had a bad cold," Steadman told the WFLA NewsChannel station 8.
Two days later, his wife tested positive and had to be hospitalized when her oxygen levels dropped to 80% and she lost consciousness.
From the hospital, they maintained communication by phone until a few days before Lisa was discharged.
Unable to find her husband, she called Winter Haven Police, who informed her that he was fine.
"I thought he was going to be fine and his phone wasn't working," Lisa said.
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The woman planned to be vaccinated in September.
The tragic outcome of her story has generated criticism and comments against her on social networks, but she defends herself: "I did what I thought was best for me."
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The couple met through a Christian dating website after losing their previous partners and were on their way to their four-year marriage.
She says she will finish the renovation of the house in honor of her husband.
