‘He sacrificed himself.’ Texas doctor who treated COVID patients dies of coronavirus

For months, Dr. Carlos Araujo-Preza cared for COVID-19 patients in the Houston area. He died of coronavirus last week.

Araujo-Preza was a physician and critical care medical director at HCA Houston Healthcare in Tomball, Texas, KTRK reported.

Since the onset of the pandemic, he’d been treating coronavirus patients in the hospital’s ICU. Months later, he was admitted to the same ICU after becoming infected with the same virus, CNN reported.

“He was always really safe, and they always gave him the best medical equipment,” Araujo-Preza’s daughter, Andrea Araujo, told KHOU. “Just, he was working in the ICU COVID unit every single day, so it’s something that can’t be avoided, unfortunately.”

Araujo-Preza, 51, fell ill in October and told his family he was going into the hospital for oxygen, CNN reported. As his condition worsened, he was admitted into the ICU in early November and was discharged after a week and a half.

After returning home, Araujo-Preza’s vision became blurry and his speech started to slur, Andrea told the Houston Chronicle. He also suffered pain in one eye.

Araujo-Preza was readmitted to the hospital less than 48 hours after he’d been discharged, CNN reported.

He kept in touch with his family via text message, but the pain in his eye became too much and the texting ceased, according to the Chronicle. Soon after, Araujo-Preza was transferred to Houston Methodist Hospital. Three days later, he was placed on a ventilator.

He died Nov. 30.

His partner, Paige King, shared the news in a heart wrenching Facebook post.

“Even now, as I struggle to come to terms with the fact that the love of my life is no longer here with me on this earth, I find comfort knowing that Carlos died by his own terms—he sacrificed himself in order to save the lives of others,” she wrote.

King wrote that Araujo-Preza said he was “born” for caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients.

In a statement, HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball described Araujo-Preza as a devoted doctor, KTRK reported.

“His clinical excellence, compassionate care and kindness will be greatly missed,” the statement read. “Dr. Carlos Araujo-Preza touched so many of our lives and will always be remembered for his profound commitment to his patients.”

Following his death, Araujo-Preza’s family have received countless messages from colleagues, patients and classmates sharing fond memories of Araujo-Preza.

“I worked with your dad for almost 20 years and will miss him very much,” one colleague wrote, CNN reported. “He was so gracious... his enthusiasm for life was contagious... and his eyes lit up whenever he spoke of you and your brother.”

“Your dad was an amazing physician and friend,” another shared, according to the outlet. “He took the absolute best care of my grandparents and I could never repay him for the love and support he showed them.”

His daughter encouraged others to make an effort to follow COVID-19 safety guidelines “so nobody goes through a tragedy like this,” KHOU reported.

“My dad will never see me graduate from my master’s program,” Andrea Araujo told the outlet. “He’ll never give me away at my wedding. He’ll never see his grand kids. And that’s really hard.”

This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 11:02 AM with the headline "‘He sacrificed himself.’ Texas doctor who treated COVID patients dies of coronavirus."