He called COVID a ‘hoax’ — until he went on oxygen. Now Alabama man’s family mourns

Curt Carpenter of Alabama loved Pokemon, trains, video games and frogs. The 28-year-old from Pell City was a “social butterfly who knew no strangers.”

But, like his family, Curt, who had autism, had reservations about COVID-19 vaccines, his mother, Christy Carpenter, told the Montgomery Advertiser. In fact, he considered the pandemic ridiculous.

“Curt thought COVID was a hoax and did not take it seriously, until he could not breathe without the oxygen,” she told the publication. “The same day he was put on the ventilator, he told us, ‘This is not a hoax, this is real.’”

It was too late. Curt, who Christy still calls her “beautiful baby boy,” died May 2 after two months of fighting COVID-19 in the hospital.

“It took watching my son die and me suffering the effects of COVID for us to realize we need the vaccine,” Christy told The Washington Post. “We did not get vaccinated when we had the opportunity and regret that so much now.”

Christy, who still shows after-effects of the virus, and Curt’s sister Cayla have now dedicated themselves to spreading the word about COVID-19 vaccines as his legacy.

“If Curt were here today, he would make it his mission to encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” Christy told The Washington Post.

Alabama has the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the United States at 38 percent, NBC News reported.

Gov. Kay Ivey recently said people who refuse COVID-19 vaccines “are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain,” according to the network.

“Folks are supposed to have common sense,” Ivey said, NBC News reported. “But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”

More than 99% of recent COVID-19 deaths in the United States have involved people who are not vaccinated against the virus, NPR reported.

More than 194 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide with more than 4 million deaths as of July 26, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 34 million confirmed cases with more than 611,000 deaths.

States began easing pandemic restrictions in the spring as three vaccines became available and cases declined, but a new variant of the virus has sparked a resurgence in cases.

The delta variant, first recorded in India, is more contagious and increases disease severity such as risks of hospitalization. The COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States are effective against it.

This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 12:09 PM with the headline "He called COVID a ‘hoax’ — until he went on oxygen. Now Alabama man’s family mourns."