‘Whoever is listening, wear a mask for Samantha.’ Idaho COVID-19 victim remembered
Samantha Hickey loved to dance. She loved her four children. She loved her husband, Robb. And she loved her job, caring for patients as a pediatric nurse practitioner in Caldwell.
“Sammy was just the kindest person you’d ever meet,” said Kelli Hughes, a friend who grew up with Hickey in La Grande.
But on July 13, Hickey died at age 45 of a heart attack. Her death followed a brief but fatal infection by the coronavirus. She was one of two Idahoans in their 40s who are known to have died of COVID-19 so far this month.
Robb Hickey explained in a media interview this week that his wife died after suffering from myocarditis, a cardiac complication of COVID-19. Tests showed no signs of other underlying issues with her heart, he said.
While the disease usually expresses itself in symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath, a growing body of medical research has found that COVID-19 also attacks the cardiovascular system, including a relationship between COVID-19 and heart-related deaths.
Heart damage “has been noted in a significant number of infected patients, and it would not be the first time a coronavirus was associated with cardiac complications,” one article published July 15 in the journal Life Sciences said. “With previous SARS infections, patients have developed systolic and diastolic dysfunction with subsequent heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden death due to myocardial injury.”
Hickey loved kids, family, sports, dance and more
“Nothing brought more joy to Sam than her children and spending time with them and her extended family,” an obituary for Hickey said. “She was (grown sons) Devan and Jackson’s biggest sports fan, never missing an event. Sam spent years dancing, which she loved, and years as an aerobics instructor.”
Hickey had gotten into restoring antique furniture and DIY projects, the obituary said. “Her most recent project with Robb and the kids was a small camp trailer which she was very excited about renovating. It is nearly complete.”
She was physically active and had been training for a Spartan race earlier this year, until the pandemic arrived in Idaho.
“When things began getting canceled, she continued to work out from home, doing various types of workouts until she got sick,” Hughes said.
GoFundMe raises money for Samantha Hickey’s family
Hickey had tested positive a week before her death, according to Hughes. She had been experiencing some of the common symptoms of COVID-19 — loss of smell and taste, and extreme fatigue. She posted on social media that she’d been so tired, she couldn’t even shower without the urge to lie down.
“She felt like she was getting better, but then it got to her heart, causing her to have a heart attack and losing her life,” Hughes wrote in a GoFundMe campaign. “Sam was 45 years old. She didn’t drink, never smoked, never did drugs. She exercised regularly. There were no underlying concerns.”
Hickey’s high school classmates started the GoFundMe in her honor, to help Robb and the couple’s young children, ages 5 and 7.
The fundraiser had more than $12,000 in contributions by midday Monday.
“I make this donation in memory of my husband who died of COVID 4/21 in Idaho,” one contributor wrote. “My condolences to all the family and friends.”
Family: Hickey would have wanted death to be ‘stark reminder’ of COVID-19
St. Luke’s Health System issued a statement the day Hickey died, urging people to take COVID-19 seriously.
“Samantha’s death is a heartbreaking consequence of the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement said. “As a life-long learner and community-minded caregiver, Samantha’s husband and four children say she wanted to make a difference. They believe she would want her death not to be in vain, but to serve as a stark reminder that people must do whatever they can to protect themselves and others and take this pandemic seriously.”
And at Hickey’s memorial service, which was broadcast virtually and watched by more than 200 people, her family read tributes to her.
The tribute from Hickey’s mother ended with this request: “Whoever is listening, wear a mask for Samantha.”
Hughes said her friend took the virus seriously and had done everything in her power to protect herself, her patients and her family. But she still contracted the coronavirus as it spread rapidly through the Treasure Valley.
“There is a real virus, and the truth is that it killed somebody we all loved,” Hughes said. “It could happen to you; it could happen to any one of us.”
This story was updated July 23 with more complete information about Hickey’s cardiac complications of COVID-19.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 3:33 PM.
