January Covid deaths in Milwaukee County include 3 people in their 30s

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A warning Tuesday night, from those on the front lines of Covid who are seeing young adults die.

This month, Milwaukee lost three people in their 30s to Covid. Two of the three hadn't been vaccinated. 

Now, the family of one is sharing her story.

Abbi Pierce loved family.

"Very caring, very loving," said Christopher Pierce, Abbi's brother.

Christopher Pierce and his sister grew up in Wauwatosa. Now, at 30, Abbi was an auntie.

"She definitely made it a point to make sure all her nieces and nephews referred to her as their favorite auntie," said Christopher. 

Two days after Christmas, Pierce was having difficulty breathing and was rushed to Froedtert.

"She was intubated a day or so after she was admitted, so she was basically on a ventilator for 24 days," said Christopher.

"Any individual who gets Covid-19, it is anybody's guess how you're going to do," said Dr. Jeff Pothof, UW Health chief quality officer and emergency medicine physician.

Dr. Pothot says young adults may assume as long as they don't have many pre-existing health factors, they're safe.

"Even those of us who aren't really going out, who are staying home, who don't have a lot of contact with the outside world, even that little bit of contact that we do have with the outside world is likely enough to at some point expose us to omicron," said Dr. Pothof.

Abbi Pierce didn't work outside the home and lived with her parents. When she went out, she wore a mask. 

"She didn't go out a whole lot. I mean if it was, it was around family. Like I said, she was a homebody and that's where she preferred to stay," said Christopher. 

Watching his sister go through this has been tough for Christopher, and his children, who loved their auntie. 

"So we'd try to Zoom in with her as a family and early on she would acknowledge us and shrug her shoulders, but last week or so she kind of stopped doing that," said Christopher. 

Since the start of the year, the oldest Covid victim in Milwaukee County is 101, and the youngest is Abigail at 30.