SAN ANTONIO – Robert Wagstaff was bound to graduate from Texas A&M San Antonio debt-free with less than a semester remaining.

The 30-year-old college student was pursuing his bachelor’s degree in accounting, but in early April Wagstaff began to fall ill.

Wagstaff's mother, Audrey Wagstaff, says her son was a hardworking student who also worked full-time.

"San Antonio, I mean, I say everybody, you really lost a good person when my son died from COVID," she said. "My son, nor any of the other COVID deaths, they’re not data. They aren't statistics, they’re real people. They’re real people that had more to give."

The grieving mother is now left carrying the legacy of her son. She says he was an honor roll student who rarely got a “B” in class and his goal was to graduate debt-free no matter how long it took. Robert Wagstaff was just two classes short from reaching his goal.

"I’m never going to have a conversation with him again, I’m never going to see him again," said Audrey Wagstaff. "If I want to visit my son, I go to a cemetery."

"I understand how hard it is to pay those bills, but if you give me a choice to have my son back and be broke— I would take that in a heartbeat. I would gladly take being broke over not having my child out here," she said. "Money you can replace. You can replace your house and your car. You can find ways to eat, but you’ll never get back that loved one. It’s every single minute of every single day that they are gone."

Robert Wagstaff passed away at the hospital on April 10 after being on a ventilator for seven days. In September, Wagstaff's uncle plans to walk across the stage in his nephew’s honor to receive a posthumous degree from Texas A&M San Antonio.

You can read his online obituary here.