TOMBALL, Texas — A Tomball family is dealing with the unimaginable.
Katherine Brooks lost her husband and father to their 4-month-old girl to COVID-19.
“She’s 4 months old. She hasn’t had a first Christmas. She’s not going to have that with her dad," Brooks said. “When I got vaccinated, I tried to get him vaccinated."
At 42-years-old, Will Brooks wasn’t concerned about the virus. He was healthy. A veteran working as a security officer. Katherina said he always wore a mask, but never got the vaccine.
“He told me he wasn’t worried about it because it was really only causing a small percentage of deaths," she said.
Within a week of being diagnosed with COVID-19, Will was in the hospital.
“This variant does not discriminate. When Will got sick, he had COVID pneumonia," she said.
He made it 17 days before he died.
“I told him he was my favorite and I needed him. I told him I loved him and I told him to come back to me and he said he would," Katherine said.
The couple were newlyweds and having a baby wasn't easy. Carter was born after fertility treatments.
Will was excited to finally become a dad.
“He was a really good dad for the time they were together," Katherine said.
Katherine said she hopes his story will change someone’s mind.
“There are a lot of people who are hesitant to get vaccinated," Brooks said. “The original virus was like getting a really bad cold, really bad flu, but that’s just not the case anymore."
Katherine and Carter never got sick. Since she's vaccinated and she said she thinks she passed antibodies through breast milk, keeping Carter healthy.