Rihanna’s Dad ‘Thought He Would Die‘ From Coronavirus: Singer Sent Him A Ventilator

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Rihanna’s dad in Barbados caught the coronavirus, and he said he felt like he was going to die. She’s been checking in on him and even sent him a ventilator.

Rihanna and her dad Ronald Fenty have not had the easiest of relationships, but she put his health first when he came down with the coronavirus. He’s at home on her native island of Barbados, where Ronald spent 14 days inside the Paragon Isolation Center there being treated. He’s at home now and spoke to the UK’s The Sun. He still refers to RiRi by her first name, Robyn, and told the publication, “My daughter Robyn was checking in on me every day.”

“I thought I was going to die to be honest. I have to say, I love you so much, Robyn,” the 66-year-old told The Sun‘s reporter while standing at his gate. “She did so much for me. I appreciate everything she has done.” The pop superstar even bought her dad a ventilator and sent it to him in Barbados, but he said he had not needed it as it was a fever that got the worst of him. A hospital grade machine costs between $25K-$50K. On March 23,  Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that Rihanna, who is from Saint Michael, Barbados, was purchasing $700,000 of ventilators for her home country.

“I got a fever up inside of my nose. I had a fever across my lips. It was just a lot of fever. I feared the worst. I thought I was going to die, honestly,” he revealed. Ronald also said that Rihanna gave him “more than” he needed to get through the illness. He has now been declared virus-free and is recuperating at the home she purchased for him. Ronald had one of the few cases that Barbados has seen of the COVID-19 virus, and only three people have died from it on the Caribbean island.

Ronald made a call for the local government to “shut down,” and begged his fellow citizens to self-isolate. “I want everybody to stay home. This is a serious situation. More serious than people realize. Please stay home,” he told the publication.

Rihanna hasn’t just been generous with her dad. On March 23 through the singer’s Clara Lionel Foundation, she donated $5 million to various charitable organizations “to prepare communities w/ critical protective gear, medical supplies, equipment and access to food across multiple countries and regions,” including her home country of Barbados.

On March 31 the singer’s Clara Lionel Foundation donated $1 million to COVID-19 response efforts that will be matched by rapper JAY-Z’s equally thoughtful donation from his Shawn Carter Foundation. The total $2 million will support undocumented workers, the children of frontline health workers and first responders, and incarcerated, elderly and homeless populations in New York City and Los Angeles. On April 9, the CLF donated $2.1 million to the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles to address the current crisis for domestic violence victims in Los Angeles as a result of the COVID-19 “stay at home” order. What a hero RiRi is.