Johnson County death shows dangers of COVID Christmas — whether we’re alone or together
We all should realize by now just how dangerous it is to gather together in the Christmas of COVID-19. But it can be just as dangerous to be alone. And Bob Robles found the combination fatal.
The active 64-year-old somehow contracted coronavirus out in the community, then suffered alone in his modest Leawood home until it was apparently too late. He died Dec. 8 — even after a close relative, along with first responders on a wellness check, discovered him alive in mid-November and rushed him to the hospital.
Police and firefighters were alerted by neighbors concerned about the stacks of newspapers and mail at his house. When he answered the door hunched over, just as first responders prepared to pry it open, Robles’ solitary distress was evident.
“That wasn’t normal for Bob,” says his brother Chris Robles of El Paso, Texas. “Bob was in excellent physical shape. He was never fat. He was a powerlifter all of his life — very muscular, but he was trim because he also did cardio. He played tennis.”
The Robles family grew up in Prairie Village, where Bob was a standout football player at both St. Ann’s Catholic Grade School and Bishop Miege High School. He later attended the University of Kansas and was a diehard Jayhawks fan, as well as an avid sports memorabilia collector and even a baseball card authenticator. He’s survived by three brothers and three sisters.
Chris Robles says his brother’s death is yet another haunting caution to other families this Christmas.
“As much as we love our family, love ‘em enough not to go visit, not to congregate — even with a mask,” Robles says.
While El Paso is a hot spot like Kansas City has been, where COVID-19 must be taken especially seriously, Robles says the tug of family is strong there, and never stronger than at this time of year. His own nuclear family members, including a grown daughter in New York and two sons in Washington, D.C., aren’t seeing each other except through technology.
“They didn’t come home for Thanksgiving, and we didn’t want them to come home for Christmas. We don’t want them to fly. We don’t want them to drive and have to stop at gas stations, where it still could be dangerous.
“We’ve been doing virtual meals together. We get on camera together, and we eat together. And it is like eating together. It’s pretty cool. So, we’ll do that for Christmas, too. We’ll open our presents virtually, all together on Zoom.”
Robles says he hopes others will be as careful. He also points to the wellness visit to his brother’s house as proof of how critical it is to check on the people in our lives. Robles says he and others are doing that for friends in their 80s and 90s.
“I’m always calling them to make sure they’re doing OK. They’re not going out, either. So we take them groceries or meals so they don’t have to go out,” Robles says.
“I think it behooves us to keep an eye on each other,” says Leawood Police Capt. Brad Robbins, who notes that, “You don’t see neighbors outside talking in the streets and talking on front porches like you once did.”
It’s therefore vital to keep an eye on things — such as the newspapers and mail stacking up or a general lack of activity where there was some. In Johnson County, Robbins says, there’s no cost to callers requesting a wellness check.
Looking out for one another is a good idea anytime, Robbins says.
It’s just that right now, not doing so can be deadly.