FORT WORTH, Texas (KTVT) – A Texas family is mourning the loss of a 9-year-old child due to COVID-19 after it took a turn for the worse and died within 24 hours.
JJ Boatman, 9, died at Cook’s Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, January 26th. His family says the boy was known for his hugs to the bear.
“He was a loving and affectionate child. Every time he saw you or any member of the family, he would run and hug you, ”said Gabriel Ayala, the boy’s uncle.
Just a few weeks before his death, JJ celebrated his 9th birthday with tacos and cake.
“We never knew this would be his last birthday,” Ayala said.
The 9-year-old had asthma, but Ayala says he was still very active, always playing with his cousins or older sisters. In fact, the family says JJ ran and played hours before symptoms started.
“He just ran and played before that day and at night he would yell and yell at his mother that he couldn’t breathe. Her mother approached, her face was already blue and her lips blue, “Ayala said.
JJ’s mother took him to the emergency room in the emergency room, and then he was taken to Cook Children. When he arrived, his lungs were full of fluid. The nine-year-old girl’s heart gave way the next morning.
Doctors reported that the JJ family died due to complications related to COVID-19. Before he was hospitalized, no one knew the 9-year-old had the virus.
“I did not know that he would return home empty-handed without his son. It’s hard, of course. This was her baby. That was his only child, ”said Ayala, of JJ’s mother.
Ayala says JJ’s story shows that anyone can get COVID-19, and hopes people will continue to take the threat seriously, as his family laments the 9-year-old whose life was cut short. .
“It simply came to our notice then. His life had not even begun, “said Ayala.
A GoFundMe created for the family has raised more than $ 20,000.
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