Gladys Sabillon Leonardo, 56: A seamstress who worked relentlessly to provide for her family

This story is part of an ongoing Miami Herald series chronicling the lives of South Florida COVID-19 victims.

Gladys Sabillon Leonardo dedicated most of her days, both in Honduras and the United States, to working for her children’s future.

Sabillon Leonardo died on April 12, one month before turning 56 years old, due to complications from COVID-19. She had lived with problems in one kidney for years, but the lockdown caused by the pandemic made it tough to buy medicine or see the doctor.

She was in pain for several days before being admitted to North Shore Hospital in Miami, where her daughter, Abigail Sabillon, thinks she contracted the virus.

Sabillon Leonardo was born on May 16, 1964, in San Francisco de Yojoa, Honduras. She lived most of her life in San Pedro Sula, where she worked in a clothing factory and had three children: Marconnis Rosales Sabillon, Gustavo Adolfo Lopez Sabillon, and Abigail Sabillon.

“She was an active woman, a fighter,” said her son Marconnis, in Spanish. “She was always working; since childhood. She provided for us and we’re proud because even to the day of her death she was in touch with her children.”

Sabillon Leonardo moved to the United States after Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras. The unemployment and economic impact of the hurricane pushed her to seek a better life in another country.

She had tried to enter the U.S. through Mexico once before, but turned around after discovering she was pregnant with her second son, Gustavo. She made it across the Rio Grande in 1999.

“She was scared,” said Abigail. “She said she cried throughout the journey because she left us as children. Her pain was us, and she wanted to return. But her motivation was to give us a better future, so she kept going.”

She often told her children that she arrived in the United States on her birthday. The three children stayed with Sabillon Leonardo’s mother, Ernestina Leonardo Sabillon, who raised them in San Pedro Sula while she worked in Miami as a seamstress.

For years, Sabillon Leonardo sent money to her mother every 15 days to support the children. When Abigail was 14, she followed her mother to Miami.

“Everybody knew her as a working woman,” said Abigail in Spanish, her voice cracking. “We remember her as a woman who fought, who worked almost every day, with almost no day off.”

When she wasn’t working, Sabillon Leonardo spent her time at church and shopping. Marconnis, who still lives in Honduras like his brother, Gustavo, remembers his mother’s perseverance. She would always keep her character, despite the difficulty of living in a foreign country and struggling with her health.

About 10 years ago, Sabillon Leonardo had a kidney removed. And in recent times, the second one was near failure. But she continued working, even when the pandemic caused businesses to close. She began to have pain and fever in late March and went to the hospital, but returned home after one day. That time, she tested negative for COVID-19.

She spent three days at home but her condition worsened. She was then taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but was neither tested nor isolated.

Sabillon Leonardo spent one week in the hospital, only getting worse. She vomited, had diarrhea, and screamed from pain and thirst, said Abigail. The hospital didn’t allow her daughter to visit, but she often called her children to complain about the doctors.

When she had pneumonia and chest pain, she was tested for the virus a second time. The result was positive.

The doctors didn’t even tell her, said her son, Marconnis. She had become so sick that she was put on a ventilator. She was hooked up to it for the next 12 days, unable to say goodbye to her daughter or sons. She died on Easter Sunday.

Marconnis has been particularly affected by COVID-19. Two of his cousins also died just weeks apart in Honduras.

Abigail organized a GoFundMe campaign with her husband, Essar Francisco Garcia Solari, to cover the funeral costs. Her friends, coworkers, and relatives contributed enough to reach the $2,500 goal in less than a week.

“I want you to know that we are very grateful for all the moral and economic support that you have given us in this painful and hard moment for us children and family,” wrote Abigail. “We are sure that our mother will be proud in Heaven for all the unconditional support we have received from all of you.”

Sabillon Leonardo will be missed not only by her three children, but also by her relatives, friends, and six grandchildren: Amy Lopez, and Dayanne, Michelle, Andry, Steven and Abdiel Rosales.

“I admired her a lot because she was always worrying about us,” said Marconnis. “And for the love she had for us.”

Alejandra Marquez Janse, a Florida International University journalism student, wrote this story for the Miami Herald.