“This time, when he went back in, it was for the same thing, but it was discovered while he was in there that he had COVID-19,” Drakeford said about his brother. “I got a call from my sister in April. She told me that my brother died.”
Delian Drakeford died of infection from COVID-19 on April 25, 2020, at the age of 56. The news shook Drakeford to his core.
“I would cook and bring him food, bring him clothes. I would go visit him all the time,” Drakeford said about his brother. “He would always say to me that I’d made his day by coming to see him. We were good friends.”
Prior to his brother’s passing, Drakeford’s attention to precautions against the coronavirus was average; he wasn’t ignorant of safety restrictions such as mask wearing, social distancing and limiting outdoor interactions — just not diligent. Losing his brother to COVID-19 woke him up to the severity of the pandemic.
“I started taking it much more seriously. I wouldn’t go anywhere. Only time I left the house was to go to the doctor, to the grocery store, or to go pay bills,” Drakeford said. “I didn’t even want to see or be around anybody except my sister. I still feel that way.”
The pandemic turned Drakeford into a hermit, he said. So, unlike many of his peers in the event planning and promotion industry who are most eager to get back to throwing parties, concerts and festivals, he isn’t exactly gung-ho on returning to work without COVID-19 safety precautions in place. He isn’t prepared to do away with the mask mandates, social distancing and cleaning practices that have kept him safe thus far.