ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Michelle Lee Carter was a healthy 53-year-old.
She was at one of the happiest points in her life after recently landing her dream job: mentoring and supporting struggling teenage girls at a local boarding school.
About two weeks ago, Carter texted her daughters and told them she was not feeling well.
“She said, ‘I’m definitely sick, but don’t worry, it’s not COVID — I’ve talked to the doctors,’” recalled Kristen Campbell, Carter’s oldest daughter.
But on April 7, Carter died at a Round Rock hospital from COVID-19.
Her grieving daughters, Campbell, 29, and Lauren Hayes, 27, who spoke to KXAN sitting side-by-side via FaceTime, are now left wondering why it took so long for their mom to be tested for the virus.
“Who knows what the outcome would be if my mom had been able to be tested many days earlier when she was showing symptoms,” Hayes said.
Campbell said her mom was tested for COVID-19 at the hospital about a week after becoming ill. Her mom initially had several telemedicine appointments from home with her doctor who thought she just had the flu, but Campbell does not believe an actual flu test was given at that time.
Early on, Carter was experiencing a really high fever and was extremely tired, but was not feeling short of breath. Campbell and Hayes believe that’s why their mom was not allowed to be tested at the time for COVID-19.
Texas has been prioritizing COVID-19 testing for healthcare workers, first responders, seniors, those with underlying health conditions and those experiencing symptoms beyond cold and flu. Carter did not meet that criteria yet.
As the days went on, the situation changed. Carter described it to her daughters as an attack and said all of a sudden she couldn’t breathe.
About a week after she started feeling sick, the doctor told her to go to the emergency room. Carter drove herself to the hospital and was eventually put in an isolated room in the intensive care unit at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center Round Rock.
Her condition went downhill from there. After a seven-day battle in the ICU, Carter died.
The hardest part for Hayes and Campbell was not being able to go to the hospital to visit and encourage their mom. They had one call a day with her medical team, and could ask questions. And, when their mom became too weak to hold a phone to her ear to hear her daughter’s voices, the ICU nurses held it for her.
“I just wish we could be there holding her hand and I wish we could say goodbye,” said Hayes in tears. “I just hope she knows that there would be 100 people in that room if they could be.”
Carter’s daughters say their mom was the second COVID-19 death in Williamson County, and the 11th person there to test positive for the virus.
KXAN Investigator Erin Cargile will be updating this story throughout the day, and have a full report on KXAN News at 6 p.m.
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