FORT WORTH, Texas — The shiny cars lined up at Trail Driver’s Park in Fort Worth. Members of the United Lowrider Council recently came together, but it wasn’t the usual gathering for a car show. Rather, it was a partnership with Texas Health in an effort to get shots into arms and stop the spread of COVID.
The tight-knit group is trying to prevent even more loss among its community due to COVID.
Gino Ayala, a member of the United Lowrider Council, said the virus has wreaked havoc on the lowrider community. ULC is a longtime staple of the Diamond Hill neighborhood in Fort Worth.
“The lowrider family is a strong family worldwide and when you lose one, it hurts the whole community,” said Ayala.
The loss led him and his community to bring people together for a vaccine event.
“I’ve lost two uncles, and I know I’ve lost at least five friends to COVID,” Ayala said. “I’m tired of seeing the loss.”
The loss goes beyond what he’s experienced amongst his brothers in the lowrider community. You have no idea what he and his wife Victoria Ayala have been through over the last year and a half.
At home, Victoria makes sure her dad’s favorite chair sits in the same spot. Moving his favorite things is still too difficult even after a year.
“It just kinda [sic] was a domino effect,” said Victoria.
Last July, COVID took those closest to her. She lost her spiritual guide: her dad. Then, her sister, who was the only sibling Victoria had left. COVID also claimed the life of her young nephew, Ernest, who left behind a wife and two young kids.
All of them were gone within two months.
“What’s so devastating is that you can’t be there with your family when they’re in the hospital, so it was tough,” said Victoria.
They said their last goodbyes on FaceTime and her family is forever changed.
“It was hard, and it’s still hard,” Victoria said. “I can’t say their names without crying. That’s why my heart breaks for families who are still going through and families who are getting COVID, because I know that pain, and I don’t wish anybody to get that at all.”
She wishes a vaccine would’ve been available for her loved ones when they needed it last year. It may have saved her loved ones and her nephew, Ernest.
Cristina Ramirez, the wife Ernest left behind, went to the vaccine event and made sure her son got vaccinated.
She wants to keep him safe and healthy.
“It is life-changing. COVID completely changed our lives,” said Victoria.
Through their stories of pain and loss, this community is trying to move forward together.
“I don’t wanna have to prepare again, that’s just it. I’m ready to get past this,” said Ayala.
The hope is that one shot at a time, others won’t have to suffer that pain so deep, they feel they’ll never be the same again.