PHOENIX — A week before the Thanksgiving holiday, the Rodriguez family lost the "glue and structure" of their family.
In the late morning of Nov. 17, 38-year-old Paul Rodriguez lost his battle with COVID-19. The father of four was the only person in the immediate family that was not vaccinated.
“He loved the holidays with his family and his children, especially at my house,” said his older sister Lisa Rodriguez-Bustos.
Paul's sisters Lisa and Felicia said their little "big" brother was a teddy bear with a laugh you could hear throughout the house and an infectious smile that everyone adored.
He was also his father Julio's best friend.
"He was my friend and son," said Julio. "He loved to go fishing at the lake and take my grandkids.”
As the family still mourns Paul's loss, they remember the conversations around the kitchen table about the COVID-19 vaccine and why Paul was against receiving it.
“Things kind of got heated a couple times when my husband was trying to talk to him about it," said Felicia Alonzo. "No one was going to tell him what to do; rather than it just be a health situation, it was all politics because of social media.”
The family says Paul was caught up in the disinformation and conspiracy on social media.
“He’d say 'the government is putting something like a chip and they are going to be controlling humans,'” said his father Julio.
"He'd say, 'the government is not going to own me. I’m not going to get it. I’m not going to get it,'” said Lisa.
His family said Paul changed his mind about the vaccine before being put on a ventilator, but it was too late.
The family's message to the community
“Please go get vaccinated. Don’t take a chance like my son did and don’t put your family through what my family is going through right now,” said Julio.
The family hopes everyone wrestling with whether or not to get vaccinated to learn from their family's pain and hope Paul's death will be a light for others to take every opportunity to live.
“Even if this makes a couple people out there change their mind on getting this vaccine, it will mean the world to their family,” said Felicia.
COVID-19 Vaccine
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