Former Balch Springs councilman dies after contracting COVID-19 a second time

BALCH SPRINGS, Texas - A former Balch Springs city councilman is dead from COVID-19.

Rev. Sammy Moon was heavily involved in the Balch Springs community. He died Saturday from the virus. 

The 53-year-old reverend got sick a second time with COVID. He was scheduled to get his first vaccine shot on Monday.

Sammy served Balch Springs over the years in a number of different ways. In July, he contracted COVID-19 for the second time. And within days, that delta variant took his life.

"When you met Sammy Moon, one thing he stood out he loved God," said his wife, Linda Moon. 

Rev. Moon was also Councilman Moon, serving multiple terms in Balch Springs. He started a youth ministry in his home years ago.

"We started out with one, then we had two," Linda said. "And before you knew it, our living room was packed with 40 or 50 kids."

"COVID might have took his flesh, but it didn’t take his spirit," said his son, Sean Matthews. "His spirit's with God, and I will see him again one day."

On July 14, Sammy got sick again with COVID-19. It was six months after his first infection.

"On the twentieth, he got where he could not really breathe," Linda recalled. "Respiration went down to 45. I rushed him to the Sunnyvale hospital."   

All efforts failed. While Sammy had recovered from COVID six months earlier, he had not gotten the vaccine.

"What the vaccines are doing is they are holding the line right here, which means they are protecting your lungs," explained Dr. Mark Casanova with Baylor Scott & White.

The doctor says having COVID previously offers some protection, but immunity doesn’t tend to last for a long time.

It’s why doctors say get vaccinated as soon as symptoms go away after getting over COVID-19.

Sammy had an appointment to get vaccinated on Monday.

"He didn't make it till today. Today, I ended up planning his funeral," Linda said. "Whether it’s a vaccine or not and you're scared of it, you better really think twice about not getting it because let me tell you this tore our family apart."

The warning from doctors is even if you've had COIVD and gotten over it, get the vaccine as soon as you can.

Sammy’s service will be on Aug. 19 at 11 a.m. at the Christian Center of Mesquite.