Unvaccinated mother of four dies from COVID-19 pneumonia
Cindy Dawkins was a loving mother. Her children are doing their best to stay together and stay afloat.
Cindy Dawkins was a loving mother. Her children are doing their best to stay together and stay afloat.
Cindy Dawkins was a loving mother. Her children are doing their best to stay together and stay afloat.
Four siblings are in mourning after their unvaccinated mother died from COVID-19 pneumonia on Saturday.
Now, the children are left to fend for themselves as community members step in to help. The woman's children are also urging people still insistent on being unvaccinated to reconsider.
Cindy Dawkins, who was born in the Bahamas, went to high school in Pennsylvania. She later moved back to the Bahamas, before moving to Boynton Beach with her children 15 years ago.
Her children are 24, 20, 15 and 12 years old.
Dawkins' 50th birthday was Aug. 1. She went to Orlando with her family to celebrate, but started experiencing symptoms on Aug. 2.
"Once we got up to Orlando that鈥檚 when it actually started to get bad," said 20-year-old Tre Burrows, Dawkins' son. "She was sleeping all day and she didn鈥檛 want to get out of bed. It got really bad when everybody came back down and she was in bed literally all day. She did nothing else and we took her to the hospital Thursday night because her breathing was super low. She was barely getting any air."
Dawkins was in critical condition on Friday night and was pronounced dead on Saturday.
"Me and my sister, we were both on the same page when it happened, the first thing that came to our mind was our two little sisters," Tre Burrows said. "We鈥檝e got to take care of them. We鈥檙e basically going to step up and be the parents now because they basically have no one else to lean on. My mother raised us to trust in God so all we can do is trust in him."
Cindy Dawkins' 24-year-old daughter Jenny Burrows added, "It's just hard, to be honest. It鈥檚 hard. We鈥檙e in survival mode right now, trying to make sure that we have everything situated with the two younger siblings, getting guardianship and everything over them so we all can stay together. It鈥檚 pretty overwhelming, but the way my mom raised us, I have faith that we鈥檒l get through everything."
The Dawkins children said she was a hard-working person who did everything she could to support her children.
"She was basically amazing," Jenny Burrows said. "She didn鈥檛 let her children see her struggle or become frustrated."
"She鈥檚 amazing and will always be amazing," Tre Burrows said.
Tre and Jenny Burrows said their mother was not vaccinated, and they have also not been vaccinated as of now. They say their mother's death has motivated them to get vaccinated as soon as possible and they're hoping other people who've not been inoculated reconsider.
"Just look at my family. It happened out of nowhere,鈥� Jenny Burrows said.
"We want everyone to realize that this is serious. It happened in three days. It can sneak up on anybody," Tre Burrows added.
Dawkins' friend, Janie Yoshida, has organized a as they try to stay together and support themselves moving forward. They're also looking for a less expensive place to live.
Dawkins' children say they appreciate all of the help from community members so far since their mother's passing.