Peter John Dario never got the chance to say goodbye to his dad, who died Friday while hooked up to a ventilator and awaiting coronavirus test results at Hackensack Meridian JFK Medical Center.

He arrived at the 59-year-old’s hospital room in Edison at 11:12 p.m. after going through a thorough screening and was given the news by staff that his dad passed away only 14 minutes earlier.

“By the time I got up, he had already gone. I wasn’t even allowed to go in the room because it was too high risk,” Peter John Dario said of his father, Peter Dario, an Edison resident.

The symptoms came on suddenly for Dario, said his son. A diabetic and dialysis patient, Dario first complained of being extremely fatigued— something Peter John Dario said is normal for people with his dad’s medical condition and was not immediately alarming. But later, he developed a severe cough.

The day before he sought medical help, Peter John Dario said his father “couldn’t breath anymore.”

On March 14, Peter John Dario checked his dad into the hospital, where he was hooked up to a ventilator and told he had pneumonia.

“As a family, that’s one of the things we regret. That we should have taken him to the hospital sooner. But it was too late,” Peter John Dario said. “The liquid in his lungs was too thick. It got to the point where his lungs just couldn’t work anymore.”

His condition worsened, and he hit a 106 fever.

“His lungs slowly relied on the machines,” Peter John Dario said. “The next day, and the next day, he just got worse and worse.”

Peter Dario died before getting coronavirus test results back.Peter John Dario

Another member of the family, who Peter John Dario asked not to be named, tested positive for the coronavirus after showing symptoms and visiting an urgent care facility, Peter John Dario said.

The family is still waiting for the results of Dario’s March 14 test from the Centers for Disease Control, Peter John Dario said.

M. Todd Way, regional president of Hackensack Meridian, said the hospital was limited in what it could say about patients — but turnaround time on results has been slow.

"We can tell you, we sent specimens out to many labs and the turnaround time, across New Jersey and in many other states, has taken much longer than providers would like. We are constantly communicating with labs in an effort to improve turnaround time.”

Dario immigrated from the Philippines to New Jersey in the early 1980s when he was around 20-years-old, his son said. He eventually found a job as a senior claims adjudicator.

Peter John Dario said he’ll remember his dad as a lover of the spotlight and caring person. Some weeks, Dario would give homemade empanadas to the neighborhood garbage collector as a show of gratitude.

“My mom was like ‘Why are you giving (the garbage collector) empanadas?' And he was like ‘He deserves it. Everybody deserves some type of recognition,’” Peter John Dario said.

From the unexpected death, Peter John Dario has a message for others: “Make time for your family.”

“I’m always busy,” he said. “A lot of people, especially where we live in New Jersey and New York, it’s always hustle and bustle. I think the best message I could give to anybody is to make time.”

In New Jersey, 27 people have died from the virus and there are more than 2,800 cases, state health officials said.

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Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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