The family of a Florida man who died of COVID-19 last month is turning his funeral into a pandemic vaccine and testing event to raise awareness of the deadly virus.
Marquis Davis, 28, died July 26 without fulfilling his last wish of getting a vaccine, according to a report. The business owner and father tested positive for COVID in late July and while he began to quarantine at home, he grew progressively worse, his wife told ABC News.
“He was losing his breath just by getting up. I was like, this is not normal, you need extra help,” said Charnese Davis, who took her husband to a local hospital where he was put on a ventilator.
Although he had been hesitant about the COVID vaccine, he told his wife that after he recuperated, he planned to get vaccinated, but it was too late, she said.
After his death, the family’s church, the Faith Temple Christian Center in Rockledge, asked if they could hold a COVID awareness event during his wake and funeral.
“Now we’re seeing things completely shift with this delta variant. [Marquis] was 28 years old, had the rest of his life in front of him, and because of COVID-19, specifically this delta variant, and he was not vaccinated, his life was cut short,” said Dr. R. Shaun Ferguson, the pastor of Faith Temple Christian Center. “Our position as a church is let’s get this cut. Let’s do this. I don’t want to see another person lose their life, period.”
