Kevin and Misty Mitchem, both aged in their 40s, died of the virus just weeks apart. Photo / Supplied
Kevin and Misty Mitchem, both aged in their 40s, died of the virus just weeks apart. Photo / Supplied
An American couple has died of Covid, leaving behind five children, after misinformation on vaccines turned them against the lifesaving jab.
Kevin and Misty Mitchem, both aged in their 40s, died of the virus just weeks apart despite desperate urgings from their family to get vaccinated.
Kevin Mitchem is survived by an adult child from a previous relationship and four young children from his marriage to Misty. Photo / Supplied
The couple were waryof taking the vaccine due to what they had seen on the internet, with Mitchem's brother Mike explaining his pleas had been rebuffed with "memes".
"His response to me was to show different memes and stuff that he found on Facebook," he told PEOPLE.
"He believed all that to be gospel truth and I could not change his mind."
Kevin and Misty had been married for 17 years and lived in the state of Virginia. The pair had four children together: Riley, 17; Leah, 14, and twins Taylor and Aiden, 11.
Kevin also had a 22-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, Angel, who now has a two-year-old son, Lincoln.
The husband was the first to contract the virus, before passing it on to his wife who became ill and was sent to the hospital.
Misty, a diabetic, was put on a ventilator before dying on September 23, and Kevin died on October 8, aged 48. Neither had been vaccinated.
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Mike Mitchem told The Free Lance-Star his sister in law only had days between her first Covid symptoms and death.
Kevin's father Don was brought to tears recounting his final conversation with his son.
"He said, 'Dad, I'm scared to death'," he told NBC.
"I told him to call his mom."
In Kevin's final conversation with his mother Terry, he told her "I wish I'd got the shot".
"Of course I told him, 'It's past. You can't do anything about it'," she said.
"Part of our pain is anger," Mitchem's father said.
"Anger because people are still not getting the vaccine. If you think about it, you need to have certain vaccines before you can even go to school. What's the big deal about this one?"
