Kevin and Misty Mitchem, an anti-vaccine couple, have died from COVID-19. They were married for 17 years and left behind five children and one grandchild.
The couple met in high school and had four children together — 17-year-old Riley, Leah, 14, and twins Taylor and Aiden, 11.
Kevin Mitchem, 48, had a daughter from a previous relationship named Angel who is 22 years old. Angel is the mother of a son, Lincoln, who will turn 2 in November.
Misty Mitchem, 46, a medical transcriptionist, who had diabetes, died on September 23. Her husband passed away on October 8. The Stafford County, Virginia couple both contracted COVID-19 in September.
Their four young children are now living with an aunt and an uncle in South Carolina. A GoFundMe fundraiser started by Kevin’s brother, Mike Mitchem, has raised over $21,000 for the kids.
Mike said misinformation from Facebook pushed his brother to become anti-vaccine. He told PEOPLE: “I knew how deadly COVID could be, so I went to my brother and asked him to please get vaccinated. His response to me was to show different memes and stuff that he found on Facebook. He believed all that to be gospel truth, and I could not change his mind.”
He continued: “The heartbreaking part was, while [Kevin] was in the hospital, he asked the medical staff to give him the shot. They had to tell him it was too late.”
According to his brother, Kevin had a lingering cough last month and went to an urgent care facility. He was sent home with cold medicine. A few days later, he returned to the center when his health did not improve and found out that he had COVID-19.
Misty began feeling symptoms a few days later and was hospitalized. In a short time, she was put on a ventilator. The husband was hospitalized on September 23, and his wife died a few hours later.
Mike Mitchem explained: “My brother was healthy. He was still pretty much young, and he had everything to live for. He had five kids and a grandson, and now all of them have lost him. It’s hard on my parents. They’re 73, and my mom said your kids are not supposed to die before you.”
Mike urges people to get vaccinated: “The main emphasis we would like to push is ‘get vaccinated.’ If not for you, then for your loved ones. If just one person gets their life saved from vaccinations, then we did our part.”
According to Kevin’s mother, Terry Mitchem, while at the hospital, he told her: “Mom, I love you, and I wish that I’d got the shot.”
While there is a decline overall in COVID-19 numbers, 22,000 new cases were reported on Sunday. Under 60 percent of the U.S. population has been vaccinated.
