LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — When her husband was diagnosed with COVID-19 in October, Nicole Keene said she felt sure he would recover.
Michael Keene was 39-years-old and an Army veteran. He was strong and healthy with no pre-existing conditions, she said.
"It was easy for us to say, "He'll be fine. He'll get through this. It'll be ok. He'll be home soon." There was no reason for us to not think that," she said.
But nearly three weeks after he was hospitalized and just two days after Nicole gave birth to their son prematurely, she learned Michael had died.
"It's hard to have someone pass away like that, just totally out of the blue and you don't really get to say goodbye and you didn't really know it was coming," Nicole Keene said.
She doesn't know how or where Michael caught COVID-19, but she urged others to follow the guidelines in place to stop the spread of the virus.
"It's a small thing to ask, keep your hands clean, wear your mask and stay six feet," she said. "It's a simple thing."
Her newborn son has been home from the hospital for about three weeks now and is doing better, she said, but still needs oxygen.
She's been busy taking care of him and her 21-month-old daughter.
"He was a great family man and a hard worker," she said of her husband, "and I want our children to be the same."
She's grateful, she said, for the outpouring of support she's received from the community. A GoFundMe page for the family had raised nearly $100,000 as of Friday night.
