LOS ANGELES (NEXSTAR) – A 38-year-old comedian from East Los Angeles died just days after announcing on Instagram that he would be documenting his battle against COVID-19 for “educational purposes.”
On Nov. 21 Joe Luna, who went by Joe El Cholo when performing, spoke at length about his battle with the virus, saying he was “fighting for his life.”
“So I don’t know if you know but I tested positive for COVID,” Luna said. “Not only did I test positive for COVID, I have pneumonia. Not only do I have pneumonia, but I’m a double amputee and I’m diabetic, so I’m dealing with a lot.”
(Warning: Video contains profanity)
He also urged people to be careful because the virus is “no joke,” admitting that he didn’t take it as seriously earlier in the pandemic.
“When I would hear people talk about what COVID did to them, I always thought to myself, man, you know what, I doubt it if it’s that (bad),” he said. “But I’ll tell you guys right now, I’ve been put in a fight. I’ve been fighting for my life for the last week or so.”
Luna said he thinks he got the disease while visiting his mother-in-law, not while performing at Los Angeles area clubs. He said his children and girlfriend all contracted coronavirus as well, but did their cases were not as bad.
“Please take care of yourself,” he told viewers. “Don’t think that you can take care of it on your own. … If you think that the COVID is a joke — if you think that this won’t be you — then trust me, because it hits everybody different. … I got hit with it very severe.”
He described his symptoms as “horrible,” including shaking, loss of taste, chest pains and stomach aches.
Luna posted his second Instagram video Nov. 23 from a “filthy covid room” at a Victorville, California hospital on the day that he died, according to the Los Angeles Times. He said he was admitted because his girlfriend was having trouble waking him up.
A mask mandatory funeral has been arranged for Joe Luna on December 5th in East Los Angeles.