An unvaccinated dad, 38, who was deemed the worst Covid-19 case in NSW has tragically lost his nine-week battle with the illness – despite being ‘fit and health’ with no underlying health conditions.
Mohamed Khaldoun Obeid, from Padstow in Sydney’s south-west, caught coronavirus at the same time as his parents, brother, his wife Rayan and their six-year-old sons and five-year-old daughter in mid-September.
The used car dealer had crippling anxiety about the Covid vaccine to the point where he would hyperventilate, but decided to sign up after his parents tested positive.
By that point, it was too late.
He was admitted to hospital along with his parents after he suddenly collapsed during his second week with the virus.
While everyone else in his family recovered, Mohamed’s heartbroken widow told Daily Mail Australia her husband’s lungs filled with blood and puss over the next six weeks.
Mohamed Khaldoun Obeid was 38 when he died from Covid-19 on Saturday. He is pictured with his wife Rayan
Mohamed’s family said he put his children first and did everything to ensure they had the best quality of life. Mohamed is pictured with his twins Ali and Ahmead, six
‘Two weeks ago, doctors at Royal North Shore Hospital showed me scans of his lungs and they were full of infection, and wanted to put him in a coma to help his body rest,’ Rayan said.
‘He called me on FaceTime at 2am, and he couldn’t talk properly because of the ventilator, but he told me he didn’t want to go to sleep.’
Rayan spoke to the doctors extensively, along with family members who all decided it would be better for him to recover while in an induced coma.
She said experts didn’t tell her that there was a chance his condition would worsen to the point where doctors wouldn’t be able to wake him up – but that’s exactly what happened.
The family (pictured) together live in Padstow in Sydney’s south-west. They all had Covid at the same time
Ali and Ahmead, 6, are pictured with their father Mohamed before going on holidays
A week later, his oxygen levels were still extremely low but he showed small sings of improvement.
Doctors told Rayan they wanted to flip him onto his stomach for a few hours to see if his condition would continue to improve, but the plan didn’t work and Mohamed’s damaged lungs filled with blood.
‘The walls of his lungs were almost burned, and when they flipped him something popped,’ she recalled.
‘They used a tube to try and take out as much blood as they could, but he was still bleeding.’
Two days later, on Thursday, the family were told his kidneys were failing.
Rayan didn’t get to say goodbye to her husband because he was in an induced coma for two weeks before he died
The family knew Mohamed (pictured with his children) had a slim chance of survival when his kidneys shut down
Mohamed’s older brother Khouloud Obeid said they knew at that point that he had a very slim chance of survival.
‘The doctors diagnosed him as the worst patient with Covid in NSW – they hadn’t seen anyone that bad before,’ the 43-year-old said.
‘Apparently they did a lot of video conferences to try and figure out what to do with him.’
On November 6, the family waiting by his bedside until his heart monitor flat-lined.
Having been in a coma for two weeks, the loving dad never got to say goodbye to his parents, brothers, wife, twin boys Ahmead and Ali, six, or his daughter Mairam, five.
Mohamed (pictured with Rayan) will be remembered as a caring person who donated a lot of money to people in need
Pictured, left to right: Mohamed’s older brother Kay, sister Rayana, mother Ghazwa and father Ken, Mohamed and brother Ronny
Khouloud said the hospital told his family the 38-year-old died from emphysema – an incurable condition that usually impacts heavy smokers where the air sacs in the lungs are heavily damaged.
The family were shocked because Mohamed trained regularly at the gym, was very careful with what he ate, and never touched a drink or a cigarette.
‘He shouldn’t have died,’ Khouloud said. ‘How can they tell us he had emphysema?’
‘He started to get better, and out of nowhere he was drowning in his own blood.’
Khouloud said his brother cared about others and helped build two wells in a village in Africa to ensure they had fresh drinking water.
Mohamed (pictured with his children) frequently donated to families in Pakistan and Lebanon to ensure they had fresh water
Rayna was devastated when her husband passed away. The family waited until his heart monitor flat-lined
He also frequently donated money to orphans in Pakistan, along with a $500 monthly allowance for a poor family in Lebanon.
‘He was so loved,’ Khouloud said.
‘His children were his world – everything he did was for his kids.’
Mohamed was one of seven Covid-related deaths announced in NSW on Monday morning.
The other six deaths included two women who died at an Albury aged care facility, where they acquired their infections, and a Sydney man in his 80s who died at Prince of Wales Hospital, where he also caught the virus.
A spokesman from Royal North Shore Hospital told Daily Mail Australia the facility has ‘nothing further to add beyond what was in the 11am update’.
NSW recorded 187 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 detected from 52,939 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk