Coronavirus: Man's troubling Facebook post before virus death
An army veteran killed by the coronavirus shared a troubling post to Facebook months before the deadly disease claimed his life.
Richard Rose died aged 37 on July 4 in the US state of Ohio due to complications relating to COVID-19, according to his obituary.
Just over nine weeks earlier, he took to Facebook to express his strong opinion on being asked to wear a face mask in public to curb transmission of the virus.
“Let make this clear. I’m not buying a f***ing mask. I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype,” his April 29 post read.
On July 1, he announced in another post that he had tested positive to COVID-19, expressing the inconvenience of a 14-day quarantine given he had just started a new job.
The following day, he wrote: “This covid s**t sucks! I’m so out of breath just sitting here”, before sharing a final worrying graphic on July 3.
“When you see me in heaven, don’t s**t yourselves you judgemental pricks,” words on a graphic card shared to his profile read.
Mr Rose’s post announcing his refusal to wear a mask was shared more than 19,000 times and attracted comments from over 800 people, many who ridiculed him before his sudden death.
Since his passing however, many have expressed condolences on the post and some used it as an example of why people should take public health warnings seriously.
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“It's sad that he passed away, but really, get the hint you idiots. How many of you deniers have died of this recently? And you still think it's a hoax? And you wonder why we think you're all stupid,” one person wrote.
Several were critical of people who commented nasty words, even after learning of Mr Rose’s death.
“What is wrong with all of you laughing? The man is dead. Let his family and friends mourn. I pray that you never lose someone to this. And to have all of you commenting s**t like, ‘oh this aged well’, literally less than a week after he died, makes you disgusting people,” someone said.
Mr Rose served in the US Army for nine years and partook in two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was survived by his mum, stepdad, sister and stepsister.
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