An unvaccinated Florida TikToker posted her final videos from a hospital bed in which she begged others to get the shot after recounting days spent overhearing the moans and screams of others.
A little more than a week later, she died of complications from COVID at age 31.
‘I don’t have a lot of energy for talking, so I’m going to try to make this quick,’ Jacksonville resident Alexandra Blankenbiller told her 16,300 followers in her final video with a weak, raspy voice.
‘I did not get vaccinated. I’m not anti-vax. I was just trying to do my research. I was scared.’
‘I do think it was a mistake,’ she continued. ‘I shouldn’t have waited. If you are even 70 percent sure you want the vaccine, go get it. Don’t wait. Go get it. Because hopefully if you get it, then you won’t end up in the hospital like me.’
In her final video posted to the platform, Florida TikToker Alexandra Blankenbiller (pictured) begged her roughly 16,300 followers to get vaccinated from a hospital bed
The video – the last of four she made while hospitalized – was posted on August 15. She died nine days later, WedMD reported.
It has been viewed nearly 834,000 times.
Blankenbiller said in an earlier video that she had been waiting to try and convince her entire family to get vaccinated at the same time, and that she had her own hesitation about getting the shot.
‘It’s OK to have questions, but I’m just telling you guys I was for weeks really thinking about getting it, ready to get it, but frankly I waited because I was trying to convince my whole family to do it at the same time,’ she said.
‘But if you are in my boat and you’re waiting to convince someone else to do it with you, don’t. Just get vaccinated.’
Blankenbiller along with her mother, and two sisters had all made appointments to get vaccinated, but before their scheduled slots came up, they had fallen ill, with Blankenbiller becoming the most seriously among the four.
Blankenbiller said she had been hesitant to get the vaccine, but told viewers that it was a mistake and that she had waited too long
‘It’s no secret this is something that should be taken seriously,’ her sister, Cristina Blankenbiller told WebMD. ‘But there’s so much misinformation out there.’
Blakenbiller made her first post from the hospital bed on August 13, in which screams of pain could be heard in the background.
She captioned the video: ‘The ‘vid got me guys. DO NOT WAIT TO GET VACCINATED! Go now!! And please pray/send good vibes, etc for me. Stay safe muffins!’
In another, in which she addressed a commenter who suggested fears over the virus were overblown, she said her experience indicated otherwise.
‘I’ve been here since early Friday morning, and all I’ve been hearing are the moans and screams of people in pain,’ she said, becoming emotional.
‘People, I’m assuming that have lost people that they love, because I know what that’s like personally and what that sounds like.’
She said her experience in the hospital, in which she spent days overhearing moans and screams of others in pain suggested that fears over the coronavirus were not overblown
Blankenbiller’s death came as Florida experienced its worst coronavirus surge since the start of the pandemic, seeing a rolling average of 244 Covid-19 deaths by the end of August
Blankenbiller’s death came as Florida saw its worst surge in coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic.
With just 54 percent of its population vaccinated, the state recorded a seven-day rolling average of 244 Covid-19 deaths last month, compared to a previous peak of 227 in August 2020, according the CDC.
After her death, friends and family remembered Blankenbiller for her selflessness.
‘Her final video really showed a lot of who she was,’ her other sister, Rachel Blankenbiller told WebMD. ‘She was selfless. The type of person who used her final days to help others.’
‘She found beauty in everything and everyone,’ she added. ‘She loved people without judgment. Regardless of whether you wanted her love or not, you’d get it.’
Friend and local filmmaker Royce Freeman said Blankenbiller would often visit him on set and help out.
Blankenbiller said she had been waiting to get vaccinated along with the rest of her family, but by the time they had made their appointments, they had all fallen ill
The two were working on a screenplay together when she died, WebMD reported, and she continued after becoming ill, until she became too sick.
‘The day before she went to the hospital, she was sending me pages,’ he said. ‘She didn’t feel good, but she was pushing through.’
Local a cappella group Jax Treblemakers also mourned Blankenbiller’s death, with Alec Hadden, group’s artistic director telling the outlet that she was like a family to them.
‘She cared deeply about helping others, and I think it was that compassion for others that drove her to try and educate people through her final few videos,’ he said. ‘She did not want anyone, even a stranger watching her videos on TikTok, to go through the pain and heartache that she and others on the COVID ward were going through. And if she could help even one person, she would.’