I don’t know how to start writing … but I want to tell you so that people who read this are more aware that this is a real disease, that they are not lies, and that governments do not exaggerate with prevention measures.

I lost my brother to the COVID. Raul was his name. Together with my family, we remember him as a happy man with a contagious laugh. His closest friends called him ‘chele’.

My brother died last March of March at the age of 55, with a lifetime to live, leaving 2 daughters (my nieces) and his wife Carmen. And to a whole family dead while still alive. He was my only brother, and that pain is irreparable. He decided to go to Spain 10 years ago with the hope of a better future, since here in Mexico. Things are getting more difficult. I always admired him for his strength and optimism.

Raúl’s was a confusing death. He lived in the Carpetana neighborhood, on Calle Alcaudón, in Madrid. He had been working as a freelancer managing software for several years. When the emergency for the new coronavirus occurred in Spain, he isolated himself in the company of his daughter and his wife.

In the middle of the quarantine, he began to feel bad; They always ruled out coronaviruses, because he and his family complied with prevention measures. As the days went by, Raúl’s health worsened and on Monday, March 23, around 6 in the afternoon, his wife had to urgently take him to a medical center. An hour after admission, my brother’s body stopped responding. The beating heartbeat, after years of facing complications, finally stopped. “Cardiorespiratory arrest”, the doctors determined at first.

Days later, Stella, his wife, received a notification: Raúl had actually died from COVID-19. he was infected; He was probably asymptomatic, and heart problems, according to doctors, may have aggravated his case. The news took us all by surprise. We never knew he had the virus.

Today I hope that my brother rests in peace wherever he is, and we hope that there will be a solution soon for this pandemic will not take more innocent lives.