A Michigan woman who contracted COVID-19 reportedly asked her Amazon Alexa device for help before her death on Saturday.
Lou Ann Dagen, 66, was reportedly among 31 patients who contracted the coronavirus at Metron of Cedar Springs. Her sister, Penny Dagen, told MLive that she listened to 40 recordings of her asking Alexa about symptoms presumably related to the virus.
“How do I get out of this pain? How do I get out of all this pain?” Lou Ann Dagen reportedly asked her device.
MLive reported that she was also recorded saying, “I need help. How do I get help?”
The Alexa device was located in Lou Ann Dagen’s room. She’s believed to have asked the smart speaker questions about her symptoms during the last three to four days of her life.
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WOOD-TV reported that at one point, Lou Ann Dagen asked for help contacting law enforcement. Alexa gave the ailing woman directions to the nearest police station.
The news station reported that five staff members at Lou Ann Dagen’s nursing home also tested positive for COVID-19. Penny Dagen claimed her sister was experiencing shortness of breath early last week, but the nursing home said she didn’t have a fever.
By Thursday, however, Lou Ann Dagen was reportedly experiencing dehydration. Penny Dagen told WOOD-TV that by Saturday, her sister’s blood pressure plummeted — leading staff to send her to the hospital.
Lou Ann Dagen reportedly died 30 minutes after the hospital contacted her sister.
“They said she talked to the ambulance people all the way there, but when she got there, she went into convulsions,” Penny Dagen recalled.
“The hospital called me right away and said that they put her on a respirator…They asked me about giving her CPR if her heart stopped, and I said, ‘No, she didn’t want that.’ And then her heart stopped and that was it.”
The coroner determined Lou Ann Dagen’s death was caused by coronavirus infection, diabetes, and hypertension. WOOD-TV reported that Dagen had lived at the nursing home since suffering a stroke a decade earlier.
Metron Integrated Health Systems declined to disclose how they were managing Lou Ann Dagen’s pain and symptoms. Chief operating officer Paul Pruitt told MLive that her coronavirus-related symptoms were sudden and that staff provided her with “excellent care” that followed protocol.
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[Featured image: Lou Ann Dagen/WOOD-TV video screengrab]
