Coronavirus survivor, widow, feels insulted by President Trump minimizing COVID-19

Cindi Khalsa, 67, survived COVID-19. Her husband, Sada Simran Khalsa, did not.

Cindi Khalsa said she feels insulted by President Donald Trump’s efforts to minimize the impacts of COVID-19.

“I was insulted for everyone, for everyone who has COVID,” said Cindi Khalsa on Tuesday. “He showed us that he has no compassion of what it feels like.”

Sada Simran Khalsa was 68 years-old. He was a yoga instructor at Guru Gayatri Kundalini Yoga and Meditation and taught throughout Seattle. When the pandemic started, he taught from home.

They were high school sweethearts and went to the prom in Renton in 1970. When they reunited later in life, they had no idea they would be in a fight for their lives.

The couple got sick in early August. Sada Simran Khalsa was rushed to Swedish Cherry Hill, where he was put on a ventilator. He did not have any preexisting conditions.

Cindi Khalsa suffered at home, alone, as friends left food on her front porch.

“It’s so heart wrenching to know you can’t even hold his hand. You absolutely have this man you love more than anything in the world. This man you love so much, and you can’t comfort him,” said Cindi Khalsa.

After weeks on the ventilator, Sada Simran Khalsa got well enough to breathe on his own. He started physical therapy and believed he would recover. That quickly changed last week, when he got another infection and had to be put back on a ventilator. He died Oct. 1.

Now Cindi Khalsa is grieving — and so is the community that counted on him to help find its strength and peace.

She pleads for compassion.

“The president has got to start having compassion,” said Cindi Khalsa. “Someone needs to take him in a room and teach him compassion.”

Cox Media Group