Donora resident dies from coronavirus
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
They thought he just had a stomach bug — a bit of a fever.
Devin Taquino, 47, of Donora died Friday after battling coronavirus for a little more than two weeks. He had no underlying health issues, according to his family.
“To the best of our knowledge, his only issue was maybe sleep apnea,” his wife, Becky Taquino said. “He didn’t check off any of the (high-risk) boxes.
“It hit my husband like a freight train. It’s been difficult. He was young and people still aren’t taking this very seriously. I don’t want his death to be in vain, I want people to learn from this.”
His symptoms initially revolved around intestinal issues, and the family thought he had a stomach virus for several days.
Then Devin started coughing. He became exhausted and couldn’t get out of bed, which was unlike him, Becky said.
“He only used to sleep six hours a night,” she said. “He had a very active online life, in video games and musically. Then, he slept for almost 16 hours.”
Devin’s family took him to Med Express, where the facility tested his oxygen level and found it was too low. They suggested calling an ambulance.
“Even at that point, we didn’t think there was anything too wrong,” Becky said. “We thought, ‘No that’s OK, we’ll just drive him.’ We still didn’t understand. We didn’t take it seriously.”
Becky drove Devin to the emergency room entrance at Mon Valley Hospital March 25. The staff wouldn’t let her in.
“I never saw him again,” she said.
Initially, Devin was diagnosed with pneumonia. They put him in an isolation unit just in case, and his coronavirus test came back positive.
He went into the hospital on a Wednesday. His intestinal issues persisted and four days later, when they spoke on the phone, he asked Becky to get him some Gatorade.
Later that day, she texted him a few times to let him know a friend would drop it off at the hospital, but he never responded. She kept trying — nothing.
Becky called the hospital and learned they sedated Devin and placed him on a ventilator.
She never spoke to him again.
“He was never conscious again after they put him on the ventilator,” Becky said.
Two days later, Devin’s doctors decided he should be transferred to West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh. At first, they were concerned he may not have been stable enough for the trip.
Devin never improved. Becky said a “good” day was if his condition didn’t worsen.
His doctor at West Penn Hospital held her personal phone up to Devin’s ear so Becky and their three children, Jonathon, Madyline and Kristofer could say goodbye before he passed away Friday.
Becky decided to offer Devin’s remains for an autopsy so doctors could try to figure out what went wrong.
“He didn’t just have his lungs compromised, his kidneys failed. He had some kind of infection they couldn’t pinpoint, they were never able to pinpoint what was wrong. Everything slammed him at once,” Becky said. “No one knows what they’re doing with this. It doesn’t present in everyone the same way.”
It’s been an unimaginable experience for the Taquino family. Becky and Devin’s 19th wedding anniversary came and went while he was in the hospital.
Becky and one of her children have also tested positive for coronavirus. Becky had some congestion, intestinal issues, lost her sense of taste and had a low-grade fever for three days.
Her child ran a low-grade fever for two nights and initially had a cough, but it turned out to be allergy-related and went away with simple over-the-counter allergy medication.
“You just don’t know how it’s going to affect someone and who it’s going to impact,” Becky said. “We’re just hoping to get people to realize it’s a lot more serious than they’re taking it.”
Becky’s aunt is a nurse at MVH and everyone who took care of Devin there keep telling her they weren’t expecting someone that young to be that sick, let alone to have such a steady decline.
“He was a good guy,” Becky said, with a quiver in her voice. “He worked at TTEC in Uniontown, took calls for USAA. He was a licensed insurance agent. He was excited about his job, really liked his job. He was always upbeat and found the positive side in just about everything.”
Devin had different connections with each of his three children. The boys, Kristofer, 16, and Jonathon, 25, shared their dad’s love of video games. Devin and Madyline, 18, shared a love of music.
Devin also loved trains. In fact, his love of railroad history and old train tracks helped him fall in love with his new home in Donora. It was Becky’s hometown and they moved from Akron, Ohio, to be near her family about five years ago.
“He hated Donora when he first came here; he’s used to being in a city,” Becky said, with a laugh. “But he really grew to love the town. He would get obsessed with the railroad tracks and he would dive into the history of the town, the trains and trolleys.
“When we would go out, he would tell us where there used to be tracks. He would study old maps and treasures. He and my daughter would study the old tracks; that was their fun time.”
Now, more than ever, Becky is glad they moved back to her hometown. Her siblings live almost in a straight line from her home and her mother lives close, too.
It’s still hard, though, because she can’t spend time with any of them now — she’s making sure her household isolates as long as necessary and then some.
“We’ve been locked in our house for two weeks and we have no intention of leaving for weeks yet,” Becky said. “We have a lot of porch drop-offs. Family drops stuff off, friends have been dropping things off for the kids to do, too.”
Becky did get to see her mother’s face this weekend when her mom figured out how to use a video chat application on her cellphone — so they are finding ways to support each other through this time.
It’s been especially difficult for Devin’s mother Karen, father Jeff and brother Rob, who are all out of state and had to stay so far away while Devin fought the illness.
“I know it’s hard for everybody, with him being in the hospital for so long and no one allowed in the hospital — not even to stand outside a window and stare at him,” Becky said. “His doctor and nurses, they stayed with him so he wouldn’t be alone.”
Becky said it’s hard enough when someone from your family gets sick and dies, but then to not have the rest of your family able to hold your hand and help you through “makes it a thousand times worse.
“We just want people to use their brains to not put themselves through it and their families through it,” she said. “If our situation can help someone not have to go through this, we want that for them.”
For more information on how to help the family pay for Devin’s funeral expenses, visit www.gofundme.com/f/fundraiser-for-devin-taquino039s-funeral-expenses.