MANSFIELD — Lyft driver Michael Barnett took every precaution to protect his passengers from COVID-19. He wore a mask. He sanitized his vehicle after every pick up. He and his wife stayed home and didn’t socialize.
Barnett, 70, told his wife Jacki he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if a client caught COVID-19 from riding in his van. Nevertheless, the virus caught up with him. Barnett died from COVID-19 in a hospital room on Christmas Day with Jacki by his side.
“We were together almost 38 years, married 34, and during all those years I can count on my two hands the number of days we spent apart from each other,” she said.
Family friend Debbie Melching has organized a fundraiser for Jacki and her family.
“Mike was a really nice person. He had a big heart. He loved his passengers and driving for Lyft. He liked to give back,” Melching said. “If they can’t afford to donate, prayers are appreciated or help with food or toiletries.”
For Barnett, driving Lyft customers was more than a part-time gig. It was a way to help others. Jacki said her husband was protective of his regulars. The majority of them were single mothers, elderly widows and cancer patients with no other access to transportation.
“It was important for him to help them because they didn’t have somebody that they could trust. They were always thankful for Mike because they knew he would protect them no matter what,” she said. “That was his thing. He wanted those ladies to know they had someone they could depend on.”
After Michael tested positive, the Barnetts contacted all of his regular passengers, but none of them were experiencing symptoms.
The only other passengers he’d driven were two men he picked up from a bar at the corner of Fourth Street and Brookwood Way in Mansfield.
“It was one o’clock in the morning,” Jacki said. “(Michael) said the party was rocking hot and heavy. You could see hardly anyone had on a mask, people were packed in inches from each other.”
The two men got into Michael’s vehicle, maskless, and he drove them home. The Barnetts believe he was infected during that 30-minute drive.
Michael tested positive for COVID-19 five days later. He spent a week at home, where Jacki monitored his oxygen levels, blood pressure and temperature daily. Then his VA doctor advised him to go to the emergency room.
Jacki watched from her car as her husband walked through the hospital doors alone.
“The days when I was sick at home and he was sick in the ICU were agonizing for both of us,” she said. “We chatted a few times on the phone and the nurses set up a couple of Zoom calls, but with his breathing equipment on it was hard to have a conversation.”
Michael had pneumonia in both lungs. He had equipment to help him breathe, but was never put on a ventilator.
On Christmas Eve, Jacki got the phone call. Michael was dying and she could go see him. They spent the last five hours of his life together. It was a bittersweet time.
“I am extremely grateful and appreciative to have had a few hours for me to hold his hand and him to hold mine,” Jacki said. “Watching him struggle for every breath was heart wrenching.”
Jacki had also been infected, but her case was fairly mild — she had slight shortness of breath, fatigue, body aches and a persistent cough. She still gets tired sometimes — a side effect her doctor said will likely linger for a few weeks.
“If you don’t have someone that comes down with the COVID, I think people tend to blow it off and think, ‘This will never happen to us,’” she said. “I don’t think people realize how devastating the virus is on a person’s body.”
Jacki said her husband had high blood pressure and was a little overweight, but had no other underlying medical conditions. He had no history of smoking and didn’t drink.
A 1967 graduate of Mount Gilead High School, Barnett served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. He was active for more than 10 years with the local Boy Scouts of America Troop 899, serving boys with disabilities. He received awards from the Boy Scouts including Cubmaster of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Scoutmaster of the Year and the Silver Beaver Award.
Barnett was a business owner and a skilled handyman. He worked as the building supervisor at both the Renaissance Theater and Richland Academy prior, but area theater was more than just a job.
He was also active in local and area theatre productions as an actor, singer and songwriter. He had experience designing and building sets, costuming and operating the lights and sound.
Jacki hopes sharing the story of her husband’s death will lead others to “take the virus seriously.”
“Stay home. Wear that mask. Wash your hands. Use sanitizer. These are such easy things to do and the impact can be great,” she said. “Is (wearing a mask) that hard?”
As of Dec. 31, Richland County has had 7,499 cases of COVID-19, resulting in 89 deaths. 5,635 of those cases were diagnosed after Nov. 1.
