An 82-year-old cancer survivor died after picking up Covid from a friend who hid from her that they had the virus, her family reportedly claims.
Vaccinated Barb Bartolovich, from Ohio, had a weakened immune system since recovering from blood cancer and took precautions against Covid including socialising with people who were also careful.
She arranged to meet up with friends to play cards and asked everyone beforehand whether they had been vaccinated, reported WXYZ.
But Ms Bartolovich’s family allege that one of the pals hid from her that they had Covid and it only emerged later.
“Somebody decided that testing positive for COVID is something they can hide,” Bartolovich’s granddaughter Lauren Nash told WXYZ.
“The only way we found out is that the person owned up after Nana got sick.”
Tragically Ms Bartolovich caught the virus and was put on a ventilator in Mercy Health St Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman, Ohio, before she reportedly died on December 21.
She left behind her four children and 10 grandchildren.
“She was just everything to everyone. As everyone says, if you knew Barb, you were loved. She was taken too soon,” said Lauren Nash, who wants to spread the message about the importance of Covid restrictions.
“It is not worth it. It is not worth knowing you hurt someone, potentially hurt someone, or killed someone because you want to go out and have fun."
She added: “I am just horrified at where we are and what is going on, that we are not taking into account people’s lives."
Bartolovich, who lost her husband, Frank “Moose” Bartolovich, in 2014, “cherished her role as a wife, mother and grandmother,” reported WKBN.
It stated in an obituary: “A little firecracker, Barbara was always raring to go for family gatherings, vacations and impromptu outings. She was their support system throughout life and she taught them many lessons.
“Barbara’s motto was, ‘There is nothing so bad in life that can’t be fixed,’
“She was considered cool and fun to her grandchildren and they described her as ‘to know her was to love her and to be loved by her was the most special feeling in the world. She made every one of us feel special in her own Nana way."
