Rory Price
Rory Price with his mother, Bernice Ferguson, obtained from NJ Advance Media for NJ.com.
Rory Price’s family had already begun planning his homecoming party when they received the news that Rory had been hospitalized. Set to be released in late May, Rory was admitted to Vineland hospital on April 21 and passed away on May 1 from COVID-19. He was 39 years old.
Rory was a “joyous young man” who had a contagious laugh and a gift for making those around him happy, his family told New Jersey Patch. He was a loving uncle to seven nieces and nephews who adored him. His family is devastated that they won’t get to enjoy spending time with Rory again and that his life was cut short when he still had “so much to do.”
Instead of planning to welcome him home, his loved ones now have to plan his burial.
The last time Bernice Ferguson got to speak to her son, he told her that people at the halfway house where he lived were sick and that he was worried. His mother asked him to be careful, saying, “I want to see you when you come home.”
Sadly, his family was not provided details or allowed to visit during Rory’s hospitalization. In an interview with NJ.com, his mother described that week and a half as a “nightmare.” Unable to reach her son, she asked the hospital staff, “Can you tell my son that I love him?” But she doesn’t know if he ever got the message. “You should not be able to get a phone call the day that they pass away saying I’m sorry for your loss,” she said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “I can’t even tell you how that feels.”
Rory’s family is frustrated that they were kept in the dark, not knowing what his final days looked like or how serious his illness was. Jaqueena Price, Rory’s sister, added, “I feel like my brother was not treated like a human being…he was treated like he was an animal. That’s how I feel. They just let him wither away, and they never said anything.”
Bernice wishes she could have prepared for losing her son, her “first love.”
“Sure, children make bad decisions…we all do. But to take somebody’s life…that’s what they did…they stole my baby’s life.”
“We are all human…people make mistakes. People do wrong things, but you know what, at the end of the day, they are our loved ones. Somebody loved them. Somebody cares about them.”
This memorial was written by MOL team member Caroline Harlow with information from reporting by Joe Atmonavage of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Eric Kiefer of New Jersey Patch, and Michael Hill of NJ Spotlight News.