Hundreds who died of COVID are remembered in ‘powerful’ billboard campaign in Texas

A South Texas county is honoring residents who lost their lives to COVID-19 in a new billboard campaign.

Efforts to shine a light on the lives lost to the coronavirus began in November when Hidalgo County officials posted on social media asking residents to share photos of loved ones who had died, the county said in a Dec. 21 Facebook post.

Officials received hundreds of submissions.

The photos will be featured on three billboards throughout Hidalgo County.

“This is one of the most powerful images that I’ve seen resulting from the pandemic,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez said in a news release. “This is a reminder to hold those we love even closer, especially as the holidays approach.”

The billboards will be located at U.S. Expressway 83 East of Bridge Street in Weslaco; U.S. Expressway 281 North of Business 281 in Edinburg; and Expressway 83 West of 29th Street in McAllen.

Officials called the billboards “a solemn reminder of all the Hidalgo County residents who have suffered the devastating effects that the virus has had on our community.”

The photos will also be featured in a slide show on the county’s website and social media pages.

Hidalgo County is one of Texas’ southernmost counties and is located along the Mexican border. It’s home to an estimated 868,707, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

More than 2,100 people have died from COVID-19 in Hidalgo County since the onset of the pandemic, county data from Dec. 23 show.

It has logged more than 34,500 confirmed cases — the 9th-most of Texas’ 254 counties, according to state data. Include probable and suspected cases, and that number jumps to more than 49,000, county data show.

Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra announced in November that he was one of the thousands who’d fallen ill with COVID-19. He’s since recovered, but described his harrowing experience to The Monitor.

“It feels like you’re drowning; you can’t breathe,” Guerra, who was hospitalized for eight days, told the newspaper. “I lost 20 pounds because you’d rather breathe than eat.”

He lauded the medical professionals who aided in his recovery, helping him to walk around the building, calming him during an anxiety-like attack and buying him pajamas when he had an allergic reaction to a hospital gown, The Monitor reported.

He was ultimately discharged in time to spend Thanksgiving at home with his wife, but Guerra’s lungs are not yet back to full capacity and he’s suffering from insomnia, according to the newspaper.

With Christmas only days away, county officials are encouraging residents to be vigilant.

“Our continued message is not to gather in large groups, wear a face covering and social distance,” Cortez said. “But have a blessed Christmas in honor of those lives depicted in this billboard.”