A family’s heartbreak: Widow describes losing husband, 49, to coronavirus

Reliant on a ventilator and with his organs shutting down due to the coronavirus, 49-year-old Butler Township resident James Chorba was only able to respond to his two college-age children and wife by moving his head.

Their in-person visit at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville on May 26 was permissible only because he was dying, his wife, Alicia Jacoby Chorba, 36, said Tuesday.

Up to that point, remote video chats were the only way they were allowed to channel their love to him during his weeks of hospitalization, making the situation even more gut-wrenching, she said.

Now face to face, Alicia asked her husband if he was in pain. He nodded yes.

Did he know he was dying? Yes.

Was he afraid of dying? No.

“He could not talk. He could not really move anything,” said Alicia, who was nearing her seven-year wedding anniversary to James on July 20.

His children, Jerrika and Logan, both attend Penn State University. The three had to make the excruciating decision on what happened next, with both options horrific.

“It was either take him off the ventilator or make him suffer because the doctors said he was not going to come out of it,” Alicia said.

Alicia and his children decided he “would not want to be living like this,” she said.

And so that day, James became one of the youngest of the 172 Luzerne County coronavirus death victims to date. Two county men ages 42 and 48 also were among the pandemic victims.

Healthy man

James had no preexisting conditions or health problems and was vigilant, wearing a mask in public and following hygiene protocols, his wife said.

Coping with her shock and agony has become more difficult when she hears and reads comments from people questioning the danger of the coronavirus and complaining about wearing masks, she said. She decided to delete several friends from Facebook and block some on her phone because “they think this is a joke.”

“This is real. It’s not fake,” Alicia said. “That’s what gets me upset the most. You see these people joking around and making comments about it, but it is no joke.”

James and Alicia met through their work.

He was employed as a sales rep at Pepsi Co. for nearly 30 years, assigned to stores in the Hazleton area. His accounts included the Walmart in Hazle Township, where Alicia has been employed for 17 years.

A hard worker with a knack for telling jokes, James was mechanically inclined and enjoyed tinkering.

“Whenever something happened in the house, he knew how to fix it,” Alicia said.

Every year on their anniversary, the couple and his children would travel to Ocean City, Maryland, for a family vacation. He also relished an annual trip to Gettysburg in September, never missing the ghost tours, she said.

James didn’t settle in a chair to watch his young nieces, nephew and godson while they played, Alicia said. He was on the floor, crawling around at their level.

Downward spiral

James started feeling sick on Easter but initially thought it was allergies.

Within days, he was lethargic with a 105-degree fever and tested positive for the coronavirus. By the Friday after Easter, Alicia called an ambulance when she found him on the floor struggling to breath.

Medical responders said his oxygen levels were dangerously low, she said.

On Sunday, a week after Easter, he was placed on a ventilator and remained on one until his death, she said.

His kidneys failed, and his liver was deteriorating. One lung collapsed permanently, and the other developed a hole.

Geisinger tried treating James with convalescent plasma therapy, but it did not help, Alicia said. Doctors wanted to administer the antiviral drug remdesivir but could not because of the decline in his kidneys, she said. His body was unable to handle continued kidney dialysis, she said.

In stark comparison, Alicia said her mother lived with the couple, has stage 4 lung cancer, tested positive for the coronavirus and was fine within days.

“It just affects people in so many different ways,” she said.

Alicia said she had a mental health breakdown because of everything that’s happened and is taking medicine and working with a counselor. She relies heavily on her family.

“I have a very strong family support system,” she said.

County Manager C. David Pedri has known Alicia for years and described her as “both kind and strong.” He applauded her courage sharing her personal experience publicly, saying coronavirus has devastated many county residents.

“I believe I speak for every county resident when we offer our thoughts and prayers to her and her family during this exceptionally difficult time,” Pedri said.