Pell City mother and daughter push for vaccinations after losing 28-year-old Curt Carpenter to COVID-19

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) – A Pell City mom and her daughter are sharing their story – Curt’s story – after losing Curt Carpenter, 28, to coronavirus. After being on a ventilator at Grandview Medical Center 51 days, he lost his battle with the disease.

Within the span of three days, all three of them had come down with the virus and they all had different reactions – Curt’s was the most severe. None of them were vaccinated at the time they got sick, and after going through their fight they’ve changed their minds about getting the vaccine.

“I have to breathe in through my nose and pucker my lips and blow out through my mouth,” Christy Carpenter, 49, said. She is still recovering after her battle with COVID-19. It all began in March when her daughter Cayla was tested positive for the virus.  

“My brother was perfectly fine that morning and when I woke up that afternoon, I found him mostly unconscious,” Cayla Carpenter, 22, said.

Cayla called for help, paramedics told her Curt’s oxygen level was dangerously low – admitting him to the ICU at Grandview Medical Center, putting him on the ventilator within 24 hours.

“They said at that point it wasn’t an emergency, but they didn’t want it to turn into an emergency situation,” Christy said.

Curt was unable to leave the ventilator after weeks of ups & downs.  

“As a mom, we should be able to fix everything, and that was something I couldn’t fix,” Christy said. “I kept apologizing to him saying baby I’m sorry I can’t fix this, but you gotta pull through, you’ve gotta keep fighting.”

Curt died five days before his lung collapsed.

“With his O2 dropping down to the single digits that much, I think it did more damage to vital organs and he never responded to us again,” Christy said.

Christy continues to walk with an oxygen tank and attends pulmonary therapy four days a week.

“I’ve had to wait now because of the repercussions of COVID, to even get the vaccine so we’ve been extra careful,” she said.

Christy and Cayla both work in healthcare and could have pushed to get a vaccine, but Curt wasn’t eligible by that point back in March.

“On the surface, it seemed like it was developed very quickly,” Christy said. “I’m not saying that we were never going to get it, but we were hesitant. I guess we wanted to kinda see how other people reacted to it first.”

They were hesitant. Just recently, the vaccine was made available. They are now wishing more than ever that they had taken the vaccine sooner.

“I have underlying health issues and I’m sitting here today,” Christy said. “My son was completely healthy, and he’s gone.”

The two of them are working on Curt’s mission to encourage others to get vaccinated now.

“Don’t think that you’re invincible,” Cayla said. “Just because we’re in our 20’s and we’re living life to the fullest doesn’t mean that life can’t be ended for us as well.”

Christy and Cayla say that they both wear masks when they’re around people, and they will continue to do so even after getting vaccinated. The two of them are going in tomorrow morning to get their first dose of the Pfizer shot – as Christy was just now cleared by her doctor to do so.

“By wearing your mask and taking the vaccine, that’s helping,” Christy said. “We’re calling it Curt’s mission to help protect life.”

They are hopeful sharing Curt’s story will encourage you to follow in their footsteps to get vaccinated.