EPCC trustee now hospitalized for Covid-19 after losing both mother, father to virus
UPDATE - July 3: EPCC trustee Bonnie Soria Najera is now hospitalized due to Covid-19, she confirmed to ABC-7 on Friday night. She was admitted earlier in the day.
Her daughters said she had been trying to recover at home after recently being diagnosed with the virus that claimed the lives of both her parents.
However, her condition started getting worse these past few days; she was dehydrated and unable to hold down food.
"It's been a really scary and bumpy road that only seems to get worse," one of her daughters, Crystal Najera, wrote in a social media post. "If you aren't taking this virus serious, this is the time to start people."
ORIGINAL STORY - June 30: EL PASO, Texas -- An elected member of the El Paso Community College Board of Trustees who lost both her mother and then her father to Covid-19 has now tested positive for the virus.
Bonnie Soria Najera, who is EPCC's district 7 trustee for the Lower Valley, announced the diagnosis in an emotional video statement.
The pandemic has taken its toll on her family. First her mother, Rosie Soria, died after being hospitalized on a ventilator. On the day funeral services were set for mom, Najera got word that her father, Leo Soria, had died too.
Within weeks of her parents passing, Najera has now come down with the virus.
“I’ve had the flu before, I've had a cold before," she explained, "this feels nothing like that. It’s so so much worse, it’s painful!”
Najera got her test results back this past weekend.
“He said, 'I’m sorry Bonnie, I know that you are going through a lot but you tested positive for Covid-19,'” she recounted.
“I'm going to try my best to beat this because of my kids and grand kids, my friends and their relatives," Najera vowed, "but you all need to be careful out there. I know I sound like a broken record."
When her parents were initially hospitalized after contracting the virus through unknown means, it had prompted Najera to deliver an impassioned plea to fellow her El Pasoans imploring them to avoid mass gatherings, wear face masks and stay home when possible to stop the virus' spread in the community.
Najera said in an interview in May with ABC-7 that she didn't want any other El Paso family to have to suffer the "pain, anger, frustration and sadness" of the tragic loss that she has had to endure.
On Tuesday, El Paso reached 130 total virus deaths, with a record high of 1,998 active virus cases, and a new all-time high for hospitalizations at 160.
"Our cases are not decreasing and so we must be cautious in our approach to make sure we are caring for ourselves and for our most vulnerable,” said El Paso City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza.
