Husband survives COVID-19 but loses wife of 20 years

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (WCCO) - COVID-19 forever changed the life of a Minnesota man after he and his wife of 20 years both caught the virus. He survived, but she didn’t. Now, he’s encouraging others to get vaccinated.

Jeremy Voss spent more than two weeks in the hospital fighting for his life against COVID-19. Before that, he didn’t think he needed to get the vaccine, as he had no underlying health conditions.

“I just basically thought if I got it, as healthy as I was, I would end up being just like all my other friends,” he said.

Jeremy’s wife, Monica Voss, also ended up in the hospital with COVID-19. When he last saw her, she was on a ventilator. Like her husband, she was not vaccinated.

“We’ve known each other since she was 15. We’d been together 25 years. We’d been married 20 years,” Jeremy Voss said.

Jeremy Voss was eventually discharged from the hospital, but Monica Voss never came home. The mother of four died Friday; she was 40 years old.

“Think if you had to tell your kids that you’re not going to see their mom or dad the rest of their life,” Jeremy Voss said.

He spent his Thanksgiving weekend planning his wife’s funeral.

Dr. Jessie Roske, who treated Jeremy Voss, says three-quarters of the COVID patients that come into the St. Cloud Hospital are unvaccinated.

“I’m seeing this devastation to my neighbors and know that it’s all preventable suffering,” she said.

Jeremy Voss is still on oxygen tanks and has a long road to recovery. He hopes his family’s story will save the life of another.

“If I can make a difference in one dad that makes his wife get a vaccine, if I can make a difference in one mom that gets the vaccine, that made a difference in their lives forever,” he said.

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