Tragic son’s b’day wish
Asks for vax after COVID kills NJ cop dad
The son of a New Jersey cop who died of COVID-19 last year asked his mother for only one gift for his 12th birthday on Sunday — to get vaccinated.
Charles Roberts made the request to honor his father, Glen Ridge Police Officer Charles Roberts, who died at age 45 in May 2020, the boy’s mother, Alice, revealed on Sunday.
“My son turns 12 on Sunday. All he has asked for his birthday is a
COVID-19 vaccine. You see, his father died of COVID-19 on May 11, 2020, and the pandemic has ruled all of our lives since March of 2020,” Alice Roberts wrote in a column for NJ.com.
Roberts wrote that her husband — whose death came early in the pandemic, before vaccines were available — had been a respected community officer and caught the virus while on the job.
She and their children had been at home with the elder Charles when his heart stopped and he collapsed, the widow recalled.
He is now among 343 police officers killed in the line of duty whose names have been added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. Of those deaths, 182 were related to COVID-19.
Roberts said the family plans to attend a name-unveiling at the monument in October.
“I think attending is important to help bring closure to my children and myself, and I know my husband would be so proud that his name is on the wall,” she wrote.
Roberts said she hoped to encourage others to join her son in getting vaccinated.
“By sharing my family’s experience, I hope my husband’s death and our story can help persuade others to do the most patriotic and selfless thing I can think of doing: Get a COVID-19 vaccine!” she said.
“That’s what my son will be doing this Sunday to celebrate his 12th birthday. It will be one he won’t forget.”