Wendy Liberatore, Times Union, Albany, N.Y. (TNS)
VICTORY — The last time Julie Martin saw her husband was in the intensive care unit at Saratoga Hospital. He was intubated, in a medically induced coma and dying from COVID-19.
A week later, Julie Martin was replaying the scene with her eldest son Jake in another ICU room at the hospital.
Both times, she held their hands, but knew they were already gone.
“There was no consciousness at all,” Julie Martin said. “It was very horrible. I only hope they know I was there.”
Rick Martin, 57, died on Oct. 27; Jake Martin, 27, died on Nov. 2. In adjoining rooms at the hospital, they were two more victims of the 20-month-long pandemic, joining the more than 200 people who have died of COVID-19 in Saratoga County. Martin said she and her two surviving children, Ben and Lydia, are crushed.
“We are very, very close,” Martin said. “I got my family carrying me through this but, you know, we try to stay busy during the day and the night times are hard. We are devastated as a family. We are all really feeling it. One day at a time.”
She said one of the hardest questions is when people ask if her husband — the one she affectionately called the Silver Fox — and her son were vaccinated. They weren’t. But she and Ben, who lived in the same house, were.
All was well until the day they all contracted COVID-19. Julie Martin said she has no idea who was infected first, but after three days, she and Ben were starting to feel better. But Rick and Jake were getting worse.
“It’s a cautionary tale that I don’t want to accentuate,” she said. “My husband and son were vaccine-hesitant. ... They didn’t have any physical health problems and they were not at particular risk.”
The federal Centers for Disease Control notes that extensive research shows the vaccines greatly reduce the chances not only of contracting COVID-19, but also lower the risk of severe and life-threatening complications from breakthrough cases among the vaccinated.
What happened next, she said, “was horrifying.” Six hours apart, she dropped each loved one off at the curb at the emergency room entrance. Because she was infected and in quarantine, she was barred from going in with them.
“That broke me,” she said.
It was the last time she saw them upright and conscious. “You don’t know if they are hanging by a thick rope or hanging on by a thread. We were talking to the doctors and nurses every day for updates, every 12 or 24 hours,” she said. “But you are realizing (the virus) dug its heels in, and two healthy guys are not going to make it.”
Martin, a 17-year employee of the Schuylerville Public Library, prefers to remember better days.
Rick was the owner of Tint World Albany, which installed tinted windows, mobile electronics, alarms and other accessories on vehicles; for years, he put in 60-hour work weeks. She describes him as “a proud veteran (U.S. Coast Guard) who loved God, country and family, not in that order.”
“He was so proud of his kids,” Julie said. “It was an honor to be married to him. He and I were just well-suited for each other. He took care of us. He made us feel safe. He looked after the mechanisms of the house and the car and the finances. He was a diplomatic man with integrity.”
She also said he loved bowling, was a hunting safety instructor and “a great dancer.”
“He always put me first, he always had my back,” she said. “He was so loyal.”
He was put on a ventilator on Oct. 25 and died two days later — just a day before Julie’s birthday. Six days later, her son died.
“It’s not something I want anyone to experience,” she said. “There were dark moments when you are just staring at the phone, day and night, waiting for the hospital to call. And when they do, you are panic-stricken.”
She said the doctors and nurses were compassionate and told her they were doing everything they could, but also said, “It’s not looking good.”
“Jake was strong, but his lung ruptured — his body cavity was filling up with air, but it wasn’t getting to his blood supply, to his heart, organs and brain,” she said.
If he made it through, she was told, “he could very likely have permanent brain damage.”
So she decided to let her firstborn, whom she called “a brainy, nerdy guy,” go.
When she sees things like Jake’s coffee mug on a shelf at home, she falls apart.
“I’ll be in therapy for a long time,” she said. “I’m on antidepressants, but I have a strong faith life. But we are feeling survivor’s guilt. There was nothing we could do — just go home.”
When she thinks of Jake, she thinks of “Star Wars” — he was a huge fan. She also said he loved swing dancing and craft beers. He was also learning to speak Japanese and was feeling COVID-protected, covered head to toe in a clean room suit at his job at GlobalFoundries.
“He had interests and hobbies and friends,” Julie said. “He was doing well. He was paying down student loan debt and consolidating so he could get an apartment of his own. He was trying to be responsible.”
She also said they were strong and healthy.
“We thought they had nothing to worry about,” Julie said. “We are eating our words.”
Now, her memories will have to sustain her and her surviving children, Ben, a teacher at Hudson Falls Central School district, and Lydia, who is also a teacher who has moved home from Connecticut during the ordeal. “We are a little team now,” she said.
Extended family, friends and her co-workers are also doing everything they can to support her through these tough times. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family and people in her small community are bringing her food and gift cards, allowing her time to grieve.
“People are offering to do whatever they can,” she said. “It really makes all the difference to know you have family, neighbors and friends who can come in and do whatever you need. It’s so touching.”
But it cannot replace Rick or Jake, who they sorely miss.
“This is unthinkable to us,” she said. “Sometimes we just sit down together and cry. ...We miss them so very much and value the gift we had with them. They were fantastic guys.”
The tragedy of Rick and Jake, she said, has inspired others in her family to get vaccinated.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people about the vaccine since then,” she said. “So it’s true, the vaccine could possibly save your life. You might come down with the flu and be sick for a couple of days. ... Of course, I wish they had gotten the vaccine.”