24-year-old North Bergen EMT dies from COVID-19-related complications

A 24-year-old EMT from Hudson County is among the victims who passed away from the coronavirus.

Kevin Leiva was an EMT for North Bergen and Saint Clare’s Dover Hospital. He was admitted to the hospital on his 24th birthday.

“The last time we spoke was on the 28th of March,” says wife Maria Leiva.

Maria says that her husband was gasping for his breath a lot, but that he promised that he would get through it.

“He said I needed to be strong. And obviously the last thing he said was, “I love you,’ and ‘Goodbye.’ You don’t think that’s the last time you’re going to talk to someone,” Maria says.

Leiva’s family says that he felt that becoming an EMT was an act of God.

“He got sick on Friday, the 20th and he was supposed to work the next day and he was absolutely devastated that he wasn’t feeling well and had to call out,” Maria says.

Leiva had just been promoted to supervisor. His wife says that he wanted to be there for his crew and the patients that he helps every day.

Maria says that her husband’s death has not really hit her yet.

“I’ve been kind of in the denial stage and I haven’t really been – I’ve been trying not to think about it too much because if I think about it and I realize that he’s never going to come home, it’s really hard,” she says.