90-Year-Old Belgian Woman Positive for COVID-19 Dies After Selflessly Telling Doctors to Save Her Ventilator for Younger Patients

A heroic 90-year-old woman in Belgium who was going to be treated for the coronavirus died after telling doctors to save her ventilator for younger patients.

Suzanne Hoylaerts was experiencing a loss of appetite and shortness of breath. Her daughter Judith brought her to the doctor, and she later tested positive for COVID-19.

“At that point, she was placed in isolation, leaving her separated from her daughter,” reported Fox News.

According to reports, she told doctors: “I don't want to use artificial respiration. Save it for younger patients. I already had a good life.”

Hoylaerts reportedly had a low oxygen concentration and required critical treatment. She died on March 22nd – two days after getting admitted to the hospital.

Belgian woman, 90, with coronavirus dies after telling doctors to save ventilator for younger patients https://t.co/7AXQRFQJUp

— Thomas Paine (@Thomas1774Paine) April 2, 2020

Judith explained that her mother was hospitalized for pneumonia last year, lived alone, and “took the lockdown seriously” – making the family wonder how she got the virus.

According to Judith, her mother told her before isolation, “You must not cry. You did everything you could.”

“I can't say goodbye to her, and I don't even have a chance to attend her funeral,” Judith said after her mother’s death. Fox News explains that funeral services “have been canceled in many countries as public health officials work to curb in-person gatherings to prevent the spread of infection.”

Social media users have called Hoylaerts’s act as “truly selfless.”

“What a wonderful brave kind hearted lady,” wrote one user.

“Beautiful lady and yet there are people that are too selfish to stay home and have to go and get a haircut or clothes,” wrote another.

According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, Belgium currently has 12,775 confirmed cases – with 705 total deaths and 1,696 total recoveries.