Va. Couple Die of COVID Weeks Apart, Leaving Behind 5 Children: 'Please Get Vaccinated,' Family Says

Nicholas Rice
·3 min read
Kevin and Misty Mitchem
Kevin and Misty Mitchem

Facebook Kevin and Misty Mitchem

A husband and wife from Virginia died weeks apart after contracting COVID-19, leaving behind five children and one grandchild.

Kevin and Misty Mitchem, both in their 40s, fell ill last month, according to Fredericksburg-based newspaper The Free Lance–Star. Misty, 46, died on Sept. 23. Her husband, 48, died on Oct. 8.

The couple, whom the outlet reported met while in high school and were married for 17 years, leave behind their four children: Riley, 17; Leah, 14, and twins Taylor and Aiden, 11. Kevin also has a 22-year-old daughter named Angel from a previous relationship, whose son turns 2 next month.

Speaking with PEOPLE, Kevin's brother Mike says that he hopes the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law will inspire others to take COVID-19 seriously and get vaccinated.

RELATED: Father of 12 Died of COVID Complications After Family Tried Desperately to Find ECMO Machine

"I knew how deadly COVID could be so I went to my brother and asked him to please get vaccinated," Mike tells PEOPLE. "His response to me was to show different memes and stuff that he found on Facebook. He believed all that to be gospel truth and I could not change his mind."

"The heartbreaking part was," he continues, "while [Kevin] was in the hospital, he asked the medical staff to give him the shot. They had to tell him it was too late."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Mike told The Free Lance–Star that his brother first started to show symptoms last month, but was sent home from an urgent care center with cold medicine. A few days later, when his health had not improved, Kevin returned to the facility and tested positive for COVID-19.

Just a few days later, Misty, who was diabetic, also began to feel unwell and was soon hospitalized, per the newspaper.

On Sept. 22, Misty's family learned she had to be put on a ventilator and that her kidneys were only functioning at 50 percent, reported The Free Lance-Star.

RELATED VIDEO: Unvaccinated TikToker Who Died of COVID Spent Last Days Urging Followers to Get the Vaccine

The following day, on Sept. 23, Kevin was also admitted to the hospital, according to The Free Lance–Star. Misty died hours later.

"My brother was healthy. He was still pretty much young and he had everything to live for," Mike continued. "He had five kids and a grandson and now all of them have lost him. It's hard on my parents. They're 73, and my mom said your kids are not supposed to die before you."

Following their parents' deaths, the four younger children relocated to South Carolina to live with an aunt and uncle, Mike told the outlet.

A GoFundMe has been organized to help provide for the children. As of Friday, the fundraiser has raised over $12,000.

RELATED: 10-Year-Old Texas Boy Dies After Battling COVID Complications, Including Gangrene in His Legs

"The main emphasis we would like to push is 'get vaccinated,' " Mike tells PEOPLE. "If not for you, then for your loved ones."

"If just one person gets their life saved from vaccinations, then we did our part," he adds.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Welcome to 'peak boomer' era: A wave of retirees is about to blow through their savings and cling to Social Security to stay afloat

    While more older boomers tend to have a pension, a looming wave of younger retirees are about to strain the economy and Social Security.

  • Senate passes reauthorization of key US surveillance program after midnight deadline

    WASHINGTON (AP) — After its midnight deadline, the Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse. The legislation approved 60-34 with bipartisan support would extend for two years the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law. “In the nick

  • Heat beat Bulls 112-91 to secure the eighth seed for second straight year

    MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 24 points and was an assist shy of a triple-double, rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 21 points and the Miami Heat grabbed the last spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs, running away from the Chicago Bulls 112-91 in a play-in tournament elimination game Friday night. Kevin Love scored 16 and Bam Adebayo added 13 for Miami, which gets this as a reward: a rematch of the last two East finals against the Boston Celtics. It’s Round 1 this time, the Heat set to be huge u

  • Senate Passes Renewal Of Controversial Surveillance Law

    Civil liberties and privacy advocates said the renewal did not do enough to protect Americans from being spied upon.

  • Trump set to gain national delegates as the only choice for Wyoming Republicans

    Republicans in Wyoming will decide Saturday which presidential candidate will get their state's votes at the GOP national convention this summer — but they will have only one choice. Former President Donald Trump will be the only candidate listed on a presidential preference poll at the state Republican convention in Cheyenne. The poll will decide how all 29 of Wyoming's delegates to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee pledge their first-round votes. Trump clinched the Republican nom

  • California is rolling out free preschool. That hasn't solved challenges around child care

    CONCORD, Calif. (AP) — A year before I-Ting Quinn's son was old enough for kindergarten, she and her husband had the option to enroll him in “transitional kindergarten,” a program offered for free by California elementary schools for some 4-year-olds. Instead, they kept their son, Ethan, in a private day care center in Concord, California, at a cost of $400 a week. Transitional kindergarten's academic emphasis was appealing, but Ethan would have been in a half-day program, and options for afters

  • ‘Still together, win or lose’: Kings fans experience highs and lows at DoCo as season ends

    Fans cheered on the Sacramento Kings during a play-in game in New Orleans at DoCo.

  • Israel and Iran's apparent strikes and counterstrikes give new insights into both militaries

    Israel demonstrated its military dominance over adversary Iran in its apparent precision strikes that hit near military and nuclear targets deep in the heart of the country, meeting little significant challenge from Iran's defenses and providing the world with new insights into both militaries' capabilities. The international community, Israel and Iran all signaled hopes that Friday's airstrikes would end what has been a dangerous 19-day run of strikes and counterstrikes, a highly public test between two deep rivals that had previously stopped short of most direct confrontation. As all sides took stock, regional security experts predicted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and the country's allies would emerge encouraged by the Israeli military’s superior performance.

  • Tennessee Volkswagen employees overwhelmingly vote to join United Auto Workers union

    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Employees at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers union Friday in a historic first test of the UAW’s renewed effort to organize nonunion factories. The union wound up getting 2,628 votes, or 73% of the ballots cast, compared with only 985 who voted no in an election run by the National Labor Relations Board. Both sides have five business days to file objections to the election, the NLRB said. If there are n

  • Fans, commentators react as Kings lose to miss the playoffs. ‘Only saw two guys with a pulse’

    After the Sacramento Kings’ season evaporated, the TV analysts shared these last words.

  • Jordan Montgomery shines in his delayed season debut with the Diamondbacks

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jordan Montgomery's debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks went better than is tune-up starts in Triple-A. The 31-year-old left-hander cruised through six innings against the San Francisco Giants, allowing one run and four hits with three strikeouts on 78 pitches on Friday night. Montgomery was the last marquee free agent to come off the board, waiting until days before the season started to sign a one-year, $25 million deal with the Diamondbacks. He had two tune-up starts in T

  • Sacramento Kings | Coach Mike Brown postgame press conference

    Coach Mike Brown addresses the media after the Sacramento Kings fall to the New Orleans Pelicans

  • Ingram, Valanciunas lift Zion-less Pelicans past Kings and into the playoffs

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored 24 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans booked a spot in the NBA playoffs with a 105-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings in a play-in tournament elimination game on Friday night. The Pelicans won without leading-scorer Zion Williamson, who strained his left hamstring right as he reached the 40-point mark in a play-in loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. Undaunted, New Orleans used a balanced

  • 3 rescued after small plane flips at Paso Robles airport

    One person was sent to the hospital after the incident on Friday.

  • Q1 2024 Schlumberger NV Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 Schlumberger NV Earnings Call

  • Astros vs. Nationals Highlights

    Justin Verlander and the Astros take on Riley Adams and the Nationals on April 19, 2024

  • Donald Trump will use his weekend reprieve from the courtroom to campaign in North Carolina

    WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — On a weekend reprieve from the courtroom, former President Donald Trump will campaign Saturday in North Carolina as he juggles legal troubles and his rematch against President Joe Biden. Trump’s evening stop in the coastal city of Wilmington marks his first rally since his criminal hush money trial began this week with jury selection in Manhattan. The occasion offers the former president a fresh chance to amplify claims that his multiple pending indictments are an establi

  • Program helps Colorado women impacted by divorce become financially savvy

    A Colorado woman is on a mission to help other women impacted by divorce become financially savvy.

  • The drug war devastated Black and other minority communities. Is marijuana legalization helping?

    ARLINGTON, Wash. (AP) — When Washington state opened some of the nation's first legal marijuana stores in 2014, Sam Ward Jr. was on electronic home detention in Spokane, where he had been indicted on federal drug charges. He would soon be off to prison to serve the lion's share of a four-year sentence. A decade later, Ward, who is Black, recently posed in a blue-and-gold throne used for photo ops at his new cannabis store, Cloud 9 Cannabis. He greeted customers walking in for early 4/20 deals. A

  • News bulletin 2024/04/20 06:24

    News bulletin 2024/04/20 06:24View on euronews