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'My marriage wasn't supposed to end like this': Valley woman survives, husband dies battling COVID-19

Hours after Trisha Curby did an interview with 12 News about her husband's fight, she got the news that he passed away.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — A Valley woman is in mourning after the coronavirus tragically took her husband's life. 

The news of his death came as she faced a terrible choice for weeks - should she keep fighting to keep her husband alive or sign the paperwork that would take her husband off life support?

“I love you, mama," said William Curby in a video he made for his wife, Trisha.

Trisha shared the video of the love of her life with 12 News.

“This guy was funny like we’d be in line at Starbucks and he would get out of his car and he would start dancing and singing," said Trisha Curby. "He was a caring, passionate guy."

Trisha and William had known each other for more than a decade. Their timing was never quite right but finally, last fall, they got married.

Their life together was just getting started.

“I feel a little bit cheated," Trisha said.

She feels cheated because, at the end of June, both of them tested positive for the coronavirus. Trisha recovered but William, who has asthma and other health conditions, only got worse.

As Trisha frantically researched different experimental treatments and organized prayer vigils over Zoom, doctors put William into an induced coma on a ventilator at Banner Boswell in Sun City.

“My marriage wasn’t supposed to end like this," Trisha said.

Doctors presented Trisha with a "Do Not Resuscitate" form, something that seemed unimaginable just weeks prior. With William's health changing on a daily basis, on Sunday night, Trisha went for the second time in as many weeks to say goodbye.

Credit: Trisha Curby

Just hours after speaking with 12 News Monday afternoon, at 43 years old, William passed away.

“And when they’re not there to actually look at their loved ones, it makes it so hard," said Jamescia Hambrick, a legal nurse consultant.

The fluidity of the fight against COVID-19 is something Hambrick says makes it so difficult for loved ones like Trisha.

Trisha and William's story is a stark reminder of how coronavirus can change life in an instant.

“I want people in households across Arizona across the world to know the name, William Curby. And want them to know that many people loved him. He had thousands praying for him," Trisha said.

You can help Trisha and William's family in this terrible time. Here is a link to their GoFundMe page.

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