"He was just put to sleep. He was euthanized, and there was no rattling. There was no — he was so paralyzed. There was nothing that he could have done or that I could have done to wake him up. It's so unfair. It is unfair."
THEODORE — Janie Music knew in 1992 that she met her match while she was out dancing at Austin's Country Palace in Mobile. It was a time of "Boot Scootin' Boogie" to get rid of your "Achy Breaky Heart," and that's what two future lovebirds were doing that night.
Larry Andrews asked Music to take his hand for a dance, and the two were together from that night forward. Four years later, he asked for her hand in marriage.
The Theodore couple enjoyed life together and shared eight children, 28 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
"He was 75," Janie Andrews said of her late husband. "Seventy-five but a very youthful 75. He can outdo our grandchildren."
Larry and Janie Andrews were married for almost 25 years when their lives changed forever. Larry Andrews suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The COVID-19 pandemic was a year underway in March 2021 when he began feeling under the weather.
On March 3, he went to a local urgent care, where he tested negative for COVID-19. But on March 6, he had to be rushed to a Mobile-area hospital by ambulance after his oxygen level decreased to 57.
Even though Larry Andrews hadn't tested positive for COVID-19, his wife was not allowed to go into the hospital. After waiting outside for a little over an hour, hospital staff called Janie Andrews and told her that her husband tested positive for COVID-19, a claim she does not believe.
"When I got his records, he had not tested positive when he went in because the test went in later in the day and they called me before the test even went in," Janie Andrews claimed.
Janie Andrews had to go home alone and wait to hear from Larry. It wasn't until two days later that she heard from him. He had been in the emergency room all weekend and did not get a room until the following Monday. Janie wasn't immediately allowed to visit.
Larry Andrews began writing in his journal.
"I have so many loved ones lifting me up and the good Lord keeping me strong in spirit," he wrote. "And prayers being sent up to Him. I love you all."
He continued to make journal entries. He listed the medications he was given and said it was almost too much to keep up with. At one point, he questioned why they were turning up his oxygen.
By the third day, "Trying to cope" was the only journal entry. He had tested positive for COVID-19. Things worsened on the fourth day after Larry Andrews learned he would have to remain in quarantine for six more days.
"Then maybe weeks before I get to go home," he wrote. "I'll go nuts in here. Just watching the second hand on the wall clock go round."
"Not knowing if I'll ever be able to be free from the bed at all," he added.
A few days later, Larry's spirits were lifted. While he knew he was in the struggle of his life, he remained positive and faithful.
"Praise God in all His power," he wrote. "He is the only True God."
"Amen."
By March 22, Janie Andrews was able to visit Larry for 15 minutes. As she made her way to the hospital, Larry wanted her to stay on the phone until she arrived. When she walked in his door, he was videoing her.
"He just started crying and I went in and sat down by him and we talked for a few minutes and he wanted to take pictures," Janie Andrews remembered.
Larry was upbeat but emotional. He asked about the children and the grandchildren. While he was in the hospital, one of his great-grandchildren was born, so he was sad to have missed the birth but was looking forward to seeing the baby when he was released.
Janie had no way of knowing she would never see her husband so full of life again. After she left, she said nurses began palliative care to make him comfortable for the end of his life. That change in care is something Janie cannot understand or get answers about.
"It was very emotional," Janie Andrews said. "He kept crying. He said, 'Baby, take care of yourself.' He said, 'I don't want you getting this."
Janie left the hospital on Monday and came back Wednesday. The moment she entered Larry's hospital room continues to haunt her. He looked like a different person and was no longer responsive.
"When I went to walk in the room, I was expecting a lot like Monday evening," she said. "It was just two days ago. And I walked in, and he's comatose and paralyzed and they said, 'Oh, we're just trying to keep him comfortable. He had some anxiety. We're just trying to keep him comfortable."
"I think I went into shock at that point because I don't even know what I was feeling right then," Janie Andrews continued.
Janie believes Larry was no longer getting food or fluids but was getting end-of-life drugs.
His last journal entry was less legible: "I GOT A LONG WAY TO GO," it read. He then wrote that the hospital staff stopped bringing him food.
In a last-ditch effort, Andrews said she found a place to transfer Larry so he could get off the medications and eat again. She said she felt like if she could get him to wake up and get fluids, he would survive.
"They said, 'We have to have a negative COVID test to take him, but we will take him," she remembered. "And I said, we'll send them on over. And so, they came over and did the test; it was negative."
Just when she thought he was going to be moved to a different facility, she was told he was on too much oxygen to be transported. It was a devastating blow for Janie, who had tried everything she could to help her husband.
Larry Andrews died peacefully on March 26, 2021, at the age of 75. Janie was by his side when he took his last breath.
It was the end of a 20-day battle for Larry, but Janie's battle was beginning. She went to work gathering as much information as possible. However, she had one more shocking snag to her plan to get to the bottom of what really happened to her husband.
Due to COVID-19 protocol, the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences declined to perform an autopsy because the hospital listed the death as a COVID-19 death. The Department of Forensics then determined the death was from natural causes.
Janie Andrews was unable to get an autopsy of Larry's body to find out the true cause of his death.
Even a private autopsy consulting service out of Florida declined to perform an autopsy due to COVID-19 protocols.
"It torments me that he didn't get an autopsy," Janie Andrews said. "We called several places out of state to try to get somebody to come in and do it and they said because COVID was on the death certificate, they couldn't touch the body."
With her kitchen table covered in medical records and other documents related to her husband's death, Janie Andrew remains determined. Despite the large volume of papers, she can find specific records within seconds.
Within the pile, medical records show that during his hospital stay, nurses gave Larry Sildenafil, which put him at risk of AFib.
"He told them he didn't want to take that again," she remembered. "Well, they kept giving it to him."
The records show during his last several days, Larry was given morphine and Lorazepam. Janie Andrews believes the medications led to her husband's death.
Further, she said his "DNI" (Do Not Intubate) wishes were changed to "DNR" (Do Not Resuscitate).
Janie Andrews said thanks to the journal, she was able to hear from her husband after his death.
She has wanted to take her fight into the courtroom but has been unable to do so due to state and federal laws providing immunity for healthcare facilities and workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Janie is convinced that Larry died from a drug overdose. She may never know the truth, but she said she can fight for others and never have to go through what she went through.
That's why she is going to Washington to speak with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn). She said Larry's story and another experience her family had over a year later with her daughter are enough to convince lawmakers that change is needed. She hopes to talk about dangerous immunities given to healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sweet, funny, one-of-a-kind, artistic Larry was Janie's soulmate. While she finds solace in knowing he is with his Lord and Savior, she wants to continue his legacy of helping others and fighting for what is right.
The Mobile-area hospital where Larry Andrews died told 1819 News they would respond to a media inquiry concerning the allegations.
The hospital has not been charged with any crime or civil complaint concerning the death of Larry Andrews. There is no conclusive evidence to support Larry Andrews died of a drug overdose due to no autopsy being performed.
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