Man dies of COVID-19 minutes before his first grandchild is born

Just 20 minutes before his first grandchild was born, a Florida man died from COVID-19.

On Sept. 3, Shane O’Neal, 40, died at a 3:30 a.m. from complications caused by COVID-19. His daughter Kylie Dean gave birth to her son, Preston, minutes later at 3:49 a.m.

According to Dean, who is also an ICU nurse, her father was “super excited” about becoming a grandfather.

“Every time he’d go to the store, he’d pick up some baby clothes or baby toys,” Dean said to USA Today.

O’Neal, a Jacksonville, Fla., resident, tested positive for the coronavirus last month and was shortly after placed into the hospital as his symptoms were worsening. Dean said that her father wasn’t vaccinated but was set to get his first dose of the vaccine on the same week he tested positive.

As Dean was in labor and preparing to give birth, she received a call from her father’s doctor less than an hour before her son was born.

“He was like, ‘I’m really sorry to tell you this right now, but your father just, despite all efforts, he’s basically not going to make it,’ ” Dean said.

“I broke down and was literally sobbing. And my family and friends are standing at my window, watching me just literally break,” she continued. “That’s probably the best way to describe it. I felt broken.”

Before O’Neal died, his daughter desperately searched for an ECMO machine that would help him battle the virus. The machine is intended to support the heart and lungs.

Unfortunately, her efforts were unsuccessful.

“He did anything for me and my brother,” Dean recalled of her dad.

She added that Preston is doing little things that remind her of her dad.

“My dad would do the ‘I love you’ sign in sign language. And I’ve looked at Preston’s hands, just at random times, and he has that sign on his hands, like the ‘I love you sign,’ ” she said. “I don’t know if it’s coincidence, but it always brings me back to my dad when I see it.”