Change of heart on COVID-19 vaccination comes too late for David Kelsey of Winter Haven

When Luisa Moore went to get a COVID-19 vaccination in April, she wished that her longtime partner, David Kelsey, had joined her.

But Kelsey, she said, adamantly refused to seek a vaccination.

Four months later, as Kelsey lay on a bed in the intensive care unit at Winter Haven Hospital, struggling to breathe after a diagnosis of COVID-19, he texted Moore to share his regrets.

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“He said, ‘As soon as I get out of the hospital, I’m going to get the vaccine,’” Moore said.

But Kelsey never had the opportunity. He died Sept. 13 at age 50.

“What I would like to tell to people is that they should get vaccinated because otherwise they’re risking lives,” Moore said. “They’re risking to lose a loved one or their own lives.”

Kelsey spent 22 years as an employee with the Florida Department of Corrections in its probation services division. He worked as a correctional probation senior supervisor at the Winter Haven office.

Moore said she and Kelsey had been a couple for 15 years. Though not legally married, they shared a home in Winter Haven and possessions and regarded each other as spouses, said Moore, a native of Venezuela.

Kelsey was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving for six years as a unit supply specialist in Saudi Arabia. He received a Kuwaiti Liberation Medal and other awards, according to an obituary prepared by family members. After his discharge he spent six years in the U.S. Army Reserves, assigned to the 418th Military Police Detachment in Daytona Beach.

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Kelsey, who had a bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Central Florida, rose through the ranks of the Department of Corrections after beginning his employment in 1999. He became a supervisor after earning a master’s degree in 2009 in administration of justice and security from the University of Phoenix.

For 16 years, he worked a second job as a security officer for the Mountain Lake Corporation in Lake Wales.

“He used to work every single day,” Moore said.

Kelsey also served as a guest lecturer for a criminology class at Polk State College, according to his LinkedIn profile. In his limited free time, Kelsey hiked and camped, collected guns and made frequent trips to a local firing range.

Moore said she tried to convince Kelsey to seek a vaccination against COVID-19 after they became available to the public last spring.

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“He wanted to wait,” Moore said. “He didn’t trust the vaccine. He said he wanted to see more studies.”

She added: “I had a conversation about it, that he should do that, that that could save his life, but he was very stubborn. He didn’t want to do anything with the vaccine.”

Moore said she and Kelsey both began feeling possible COVID-19 symptoms in early August. They went to the emergency room at Winter Haven Hospital on Aug. 9, and Kelsey was admitted. Moore said she grew tired of waiting and left after about three hours.

Moore endured what she called a mild case of COVID, with coughing, fatigue and dizziness that lasted about three weeks.

Winter Haven Hospital, like most hospitals during the latest surge of the pandemic, does not allow routine visits to patients in COVID units. Moore said she called Kelsey often, even after he was intubated, sedated and placed on a mechanical ventilator about two weeks after being admitted.

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Moore said a nurse held the phone near Kelsey’s ear, and she told him that she loved him.

“I used to call him, and the nurses used put the phone on his ear and I used to talk to him,” Moore said. “And the nurse told me that he used to move his hand and he smiled, and the ventilator moved, so he reacted to my talking.”

Kelsey’s condition worsened, and he developed double pneumonia and a blood infection, Moore said. A nurse called on the afternoon of Sept. 13 and urged Moore to come to the hospital, where she was allowed into Kelsey’s room for an end-of-life visit.

At about 11 p.m., Kelsey’s heart stopped, and a team of what Moore described as about 30 workers crowded in the room and attempted to revive him, without success.

“I was there with him when he passed away,” Moore said. “It was horrible. I don’t wish that to anybody. It was very hard to see that. I still have flashbacks about it.”

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Kelsey had no relatives living in Florida. Moore said she plans to hold a memorial service for Kelsey’s friends, and she said the Department of Corrections will conduct a tribute for co-workers on Oct. 1.

Kelsey’s family plans a private ceremony on Nov. 14, which would have been his 51st birthday.

Moore’s disappointment that her partner chose not to get a vaccination doesn’t dim her admiration for him.

“He was a very good man,” she said.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

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