Washington State Family Says Goodbye to Mom Dying from Coronavirus Over Walkie-Talkie

As Americans continue to practice social distancing amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, one Washington state family was forced to spend their final moments with their dying mother standing outside of her hospital room, telling her they love her via walkie-talkie.

Sundee Rutter, a 42-year-old mother of six and a stage 4 breast cancer survivor, died of coronavirus two weeks after she initially showed symptoms of the disease that has largely impacted her home state.

On March 16, Sundee’s children as well as her sister and mother, gathered outside her hospital room to say goodbye, BuzzFeed News reported.

As her family spoke through the handheld radio device, the receiver was placed next to Sundee against a pillow on her hospital bed, according to the news outlet.

“I told her I love her … she shouldn’t worry about the kids,” Ross-Rutter, Sundee’s fourth-oldest child told BuzzFeed.

Sundee first went to the hospital on March 3 (she had a fever and labored breathing, telltale symptoms of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, ABC affiliate KOMO reported), but was sent home. On March 7, Sundee returned and her family was told she would be admitted so they could treat her for pneumonia.

The next day, she tested positive for coronavirus, BuzzFeed reported.

Ross-Rutter explained to BuzzFeed that he was initially allowed to visit with Sundee if he wore a face mask, however things quickly changed when Sundee was completely isolated.

“Like, I’m about to lose my best friend and she can’t even hear me,” Ross-Rutter told BuzzFeed.

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“For a while, she was able to text,” Ross-Rutter explained, adding that Sundee’s responses later turned into emoji-only as her condition worsened. On March 16, doctors called their family to come in and Sundee died that afternoon.

As Ross-Rutter continues to mourn Sundee’s death, he told BuzzFeed, “She was a supermom, you know?”

Sundee’s immune system had been weakened as a result of her previous cancer treatments, and Rutter died on March 16, a week after she was admitted, KOMO reported.

“When I got the news of her, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is not something to play with, this is serious,’ and now my outlook is different,” friend Jessica Harris told KOMO.

“She was a wonderful person, and there’s not many like her out there anymore,” she added. “Great friend, great mother, great wife, she was a wonderful person … We’re pretty devastated. She beat cancer and lost the battle to coronavirus? It’s just crazy.”

Three of Sundee’s six children are in college and the others are either in high school or middle school, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family.

Sundee’s children are now without both parents as their father died a few years ago, the page explained.

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The first symptoms of the disease typically begin in the upper respiratory system and present as coughing and sneezing, much like a cold. But as the virus progresses, symptoms will become more like the flu, and infected persons may experience a running fever, fatigue and body aches.

According to the CDC, because older adults are more at risk of suffering serious symptoms from coronavirus, they have been advised to stay indoors and avoid crowded places to reduce their exposure during the outbreak.

As of Monday evening, there have been at least 163,417 cases and 3,055 deaths attributed to coronavirus in the United States, according to the New York Times.

The GoFundMe set up to help Rutter’s six children had raised more than $279,510 as of Monday evening.

“Please help support this family to get some housing set up and for whatever else the family may need in the coming months,” the description continued. “They are a proud family but they touched so many people’s lives that I know many want to help in any way they can.”

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.