After COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked, the number of Texans dependent on home oxygen equipment was at “an all-time high” when a winter storm overwhelmed the state’s power grid in February, leaving many struggling for air.
Mike Hixenbaugh and Perla Trevizo
NBC News/The Texas Tribune and ProPublica
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HOUSTON Mauricio Marin felt his heart tighten when the power flicked off at his Richmond, home on the evening of Feb. 14, shutting down his plug-in breathing machine. Gasping, he rushed to connect himself to one of the portable oxygen tanks his doctors had sent home with him weeks earlier to help his lungs recover after his three-week stay in a COVID-19 intensive care unit.
Texans recovering from COVID-19 relied on machines to help them breathe. Then the power went out.
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After three days with little power, no heat and inadequate oxygen that left him gasping for air, Mauricio Marin told his wife, “Honey, at least I’m going to die with you and my kids and not alone at the hospital.” (Credit: Brandon Thibodeaux for NBC News)
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HOUSTON Mauricio Marin felt his heart tighten when the power flicked off at his Richmond, home on the evening of Feb. 14, shutting down his plug-in breathing machine. Gasping, he rushed to connect himself to one of the portable oxygen tanks his doctors had sent home with him weeks earlier to help his lungs recover after his three-week stay in a COVID-19 intensive care unit.
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