'It can kill anyone': 'Perfectly healthy' Texas father-of-six, 44, dies from coronavirus just two days after he tested positive
A 'perfectly healthy' father of six passed away just days after being diagnosed with coronavirus, causing his wife to warn 'it can happen to anyone'.
Adolph Mendez, 44, was a kindergarten teacher in New Braunfels, Texas.
After testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died on Thursday just two days after receiving the diagnosis.
On the day he died, Texas had 1,651 cases and 21 people had died.
Family man Adolph Mendez, 44, (pictured) was a kindergarten teacher in New Braunfels, Texas
Mr Mendez, who was referred to fondly as T.J, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday after being tested last week, and passed away on Thursday at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, from complications of the illness.
He leaves behind his three daughters and three sons, and wife, Angela, who say Mendez was perfectly healthy prior to catching the virus.
'You hear that the people who die are older, or have previous health conditions, but he was neither and the virus took him down hard,' Angela told the Herald Zeitung.
'It can happen to anyone, it's not just a story that happens to people across the world. It's here and it's real and it can kill anyone, just like it did my husband.'
He leaves behind his three daughters and three sons, and wife, Angela, who say Mendez was perfectly healthy prior to catching the virus
One of his daughters, Brenda Johson, described her father as 'perfectly healthy'.
She explained how his students had called him sticker man as he was known for giving out stickers every Sunday.
'He loved his family so much. He was very involved in our community and our church,' she said.
Pastor Ray Still of Oakwood Church paid tribute to Mr Mendez as a devout Christian. 'He loved his wife and children, his Lord and the Lord's church and served it faithfully.
'He will be greatly missed. All the people of Oakwood Church grieve with his wife and children and their loss.'
