Richard Rose, of Port Clinton, Ohio, died of COVID-19 after promising not to buy a mask and rejecting the mask recommendation as a “publicity stunt.”
In the summer of 2020, we won reader requests about a collage of social media posts that gave the impression of displaying public statements through the Ohio guy, Richard Rose. A symbol appears to be a screenshot of Rose’s Facebook post, promising not to wear a mask in the context of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, while a later symbol appears to be a screenshot of her obituary, indicating that she died in July. four “due to COVID-19 headaches.”
– Heavy.com (@HeavySan) 10 July 2020
The story has been reported through national and foreign media, and the collage of Rose’s Facebook posts has been presented via some Internet users as a stern warning to those who did not take seriously the threat of spreading and contracting the virus, and specifically its effectiveness. wear masks. However, some expressed skepticism about the story, saying that Rose was a crisis actress and that the cases of her death, and her past social media posts, were a hoax.
But the messages and obituaries were genuine. Richard Donald Rose III, known as Rick, died on July 4 after suffering headaches from COVID-19, which he had been diagnosed with three days earlier. Two months earlier, he had promised to wear a mask, calling it a “media hype.” Three weeks before his death, Rose went to an Ohio resort and posted a photo of a crowded pool.
Rose’s obituary, which was posted on the website Legacy.com, Sandusky Register, Port Clinton Beacon and the Crosser and Priesman Funeral Home website, stated:
“Richard Donald Rose, III, 37, of Port Clinton passed away on Saturday, July 4, 2020 from Covid-19 headaches at home. He was born on July 25, 1982 in Port Clinton. He graduated from Port Clinton High School. He served in the U.S. Army for nine years, traveling through Iraq and Afghanistan twice. He enjoyed social media, online streaming, the paranormal and his two cats Dale and Tucker. He is a fan of NASCAR, Dirt Track Racing and Georgia Bulldogs Football. Survivor is his mother and stepfather: Tina and Kenny Heschel of Port Clinton; sister: Krystal Campbell of Genoa; brother: KC Heschel of Concord, North Carolina; half-sister: Melissa Rose of Port Clinton. He died before his grandfathers die: Carl and Marla Kessler, Cooper and Janice Heschel, Richard Rose, Mildred DeBlase … »
In the months leading up to his death, Rose posted several comments about COVID-19 on Facebook, but the tone of the messages was inconsistent at all times. Overall, much of what Rose posted on the site is funny, and some of her COVID-19-related messages have kept the spirit of lightness and malice.
At one point in early April, he seemed at least curious about the potential benefits of face mask types, but, on the other hand, a meme he published on May 18 promoted a baseless statement that policies requiring the use of masks were a precursor to mandatory Muslim dress codes.
Rose, obviously, personally aware that COVID-19 is a genuine phenomenon. In March, he noted in a Facebook post that his own cousin had tested positive for the disease and asked for “positive waves” on behalf of the cousin, who at the time was in a medically induced coma.
At other times, the content Rose posted on her Facebook profile indicated that she was in fact aware of the possibility of damage from the pandemic. In March, for example, Rose posted a meme that, while funny, indicated that he had existing immune deficiencies that could make him more vulnerable, a message that turned out to be tragically prophetic. On April 23, he posted another fun meme to mock plans to end economic and social blockades as premature.
Some versions of Rose’s collage on Facebook, widely shared after her death, included a mention of her at the Put-in-Bay beach hotel on South Bass Island in Ohio. These screenshots were also authentic. According to her Facebook posts, Rose appears to have edited the station on June 6 and 13. On this last occasion, he posted a photo of a crowded pool, and ironiically added that “it’s not so crowded.”
The variety of tone in Rose’s observations on the pandemic is not reflected very well in many social media reports and publications, some of which described it in a reductive way as a denial of COVID-19. However, on April 28, Rose made an undeniable vote on a Facebook post not to buy a mask, adding: “I got here for not subscribing to this fucking hype”:
Rose’s Facebook posts in his final days indicated a deterioration in his health.
On July 1, he wrote that he had been tested for COVID-19 after feeling “very sick in the last few days.” Later that day, Rose showed that she had tested positive for the virus and had been quarantined for 14 days. Movingly, he added, “It sucks because I had just had a new job.” The next day he wrote unsettlingly: This covid sucks! I’m so out of breath, just sitting here. Two days later, on July 4, Rose died at the age of 37.
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