Florida man encourages vaccine after losing wife, unborn baby
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - An Ormond Beach man has become an advocate of the vaccine after losing his wife and the couple’s unborn baby.
FOX 35 News first told you about Chris and Ashley Smith in August after they both contracted COVID-19.
Ashley was hospitalized for 34 days at Halifax Health in Daytona Beach before losing her battle on September 10.
"My whole life has been taken away all over COVID and all in a span of one month," said Chris.
The 29-year-old said he’s thankful to the community for donating enough money to a GoFundMe page -- originally planned for medical expenses -- that will allow him to bury her.
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"I just can’t thank everybody enough because without everybody I wouldn’t have been able to do it by myself," he said.
He calls not getting vaccinated the biggest mistake of their life and is encouraging others to get vaccinated so they don’t experience the same heartache.
"I believe if she had it she would have had a way better opportunity to fight this," he said.
The couple got matching tattoos several years ago that have now taken a whole new meaning -- his says "Her guardian" and hers says "His Angel."
"I was always going to be her guardian and she was always going to be my angel and now she’s my guardian angel," he said.
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