Hamlin said that his mother was taken to the hospital on March 23, but in an incredibly short span of time, the virus took her away.
“I want people to understand that this virus, this corona is not a joke,” Hamlin said.
“That was Monday. And now it’s Thursday and she’s gone,” Hamlin said in the video, breaking down into sobs.
Worst of all, because of quarantine, he said the family was not able to meet her. The heartbroken son said that not only were his family powerless to do anything to help his mother, but they couldn’t even visit her or give her anything familiar from home.
“Me, my dad, my brother and my sister, and all our family,” he said, “we have to just sit at home while she struggles in the hospital on her own.”
“You can’t go near her, you can’t cuddle her,” Hamlin said, adding that all they could do was to pray all day, hoping she would come out alright.
While Hamlin didn’t get a chance to properly say goodbye to his mother, he hopes that by mourning her via social media, he can honor her memory.
He added that though going viral won’t bring her back, if it helps save at least one person’s loved one, “it’s worth it.”
In remembering his late mother, Hamlin expressed his gratitude for all she had done while promising to look after his siblings, as his mother had asked him to.
The incredible response of people to Hamlin’s video tribute on social media represents how people are taking the CCP virus seriously and at the same time reaffirms our faith in humanity. For Hamlin, the best way to remember his late mother is to stay inside and follow social distancing restrictions so that no one else lives through what he experienced.