Celebrity Hairstylist Kristin Ess’ Brother Dies from COVID Days After Birth of Son

Celebrity hairstylist Kristin Ess’ brother Nick died from COVID-19, just days after his son was born, Ess announced Friday. Just days earlier, Ess told her Instagram followers that her 32-year-old brother was put on a ventilator the same day his son was born. Nick was scheduled to be taken to another hospital for treatment, but he died before he could be transferred. Several of Ess’ celebrity clients sent their condolences, including Lili Reinhart, Lucy Hale, Jenna Dewan, and Lauren Conrad.

Ess shared a photo of herself holding Nick’s hand in the hospital, as well as other pictures with Nick. “My little brother is gone and my heart feels empty,” she wrote in the caption. “How do you gather the words you never want to say? How does the clock keep ticking? How does the world keep turning? And why does this happen to someone who is so selfless? I have so many questions.⁣”

She went on to note how much she hates the virus, which “takes no prisoners,” Ess wrote. “This kind, beautiful, hardworking, generous, compassionate man was stolen from me, stolen from his wife, his newborn, his family, and his friends,” she continued. “We still had so many memories to make with him. Nick is a legend who lived lifetimes in his 32 years and I’ll never stop wondering what he could have done in the next 32.⁣”

The last thing Nick asked her to do was to move him to another hospital, which she promised to do. Everyone who heard his story “tried to make a miracle happen,” she wrote, but Nick died before he could make the trip. “In the end, the sweetest boy in the world turned out to be the most magnificent man. I will look for him everywhere I go,” Ess concluded, adding a white heart emoji.

Several of Ess’ famous celebrity clients sent their condolences to the Kristin Ess Hair founder. “I love you so much,” Conrad wrote. “Kristin there are no words and my heart just absolutely breaks for you. I love you beyond,” Dewan added. “Kristin, I love you so much. Thank you for sharing your heart with us. ‘Sorry’ will not and could not ever do justice. Rest In Peace dearest Nick,” Hale wrote, while Reinhart’s “heart goes out to you and your family.”

Back on Sept. 19, Ess revealed that Nick was in critical condition and still on a ventilator, reports PEOPLE. Nick’s wife gave birth to their first child on the same day Nick was intubated. “His little boy currently sits one floor above him in the NICU. He was only able to see him once for a few minutes on FaceTime,” Ess wrote last week in an Instagram Story post. She reminded her followers to get vaccinated, adding that her brother was healthy before he contracted the virus. “To watch my little brother, a very capable man who never asks for help from anyone, gasping for air while I hold his hand, smile with my eyes and tell him he is going to be okay while holding back the biggest tears and screams of my life,” Ess wrote. “I don’t wish that on anyone.”