 As COVID cases slowly began to decline throughout most of our country, many families are still dealing with the aftermath of both personal and financial loss left in the pandemic's wake. For one such family in our area, losing two family members was an unimaginable nightmare, one that they are in many ways still struggling to overcome. Well, my brother was a great, great man. He had worked at Wayne Supply for 22 years, yes, and he, everybody just loved him. You know, and he was an avid patriot. He was a true American. Arnold Edward Eddie Mullins, 53, and his son Brandon Mullins, 24, both passed away last month within just two days of each other. And while those losses were understandably unexpected tragedies, those they left are now facing a large amount of expenses, all while still grieving for their loved ones. As such, the family has started to go fund me page in order to help ease the financial burden of their terrible situation. Martin says she has also been selling t-shirts memorializing her brother and her nephew as part of their fundraising efforts. I just lost my brother Eddie and my nephew, which was his son Brandon. COVID, they were both fine. And they just got like a cold, you know, their sinuses and all that. And they just kept getting sicker. And then they took him to the hospital and they gave both of them the rims fire with that antiviral. And after they give him that, they just kept going down the hill, getting worse. And they tried putting them both on the vent. And they got worse on the vent when my nephew died actually right after they got him on the vent. Had a heart attack. Here at Pikeville Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute, we have assembled a comprehensive team of cardiac specialists bringing expertise from all regions of the nation and the world. We have coupled that with cutting edge technology, providing them the best equipment and operating rooms available. The result is comprehensive cardiac care for the people of our region that is second to none. The Heart and Vascular Institute at Pikeville Medical Center. Martin says that while the two were not vaccinated, they had been considering doing so just before they fell ill. And while she supports every American's freedom to choose for themselves, Martin urges those who may still be unvaccinated to make that choice for themselves as it could save a life. And he really expressed his wishes. And my nephew was basically the same thing too. He was really pro-American. They wasn't against the vaccine. You know, actually they were both thinking about getting it. But they didn't like the idea of something being mandated. Somebody tell them they have to do it, you know, because we're a free country and we have that right. And I would advise anybody to get it. The vaccine might help, it might not. But at least you can say I've done all I can do. For more information on their GoFundMe page, please see the link to the company's this story. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joshua Sloan.