A Missouri mother hopes to see the blood of her dying son dripping down the wall of the hospital room help Americans take COVID-19 seriously.
Peyton Baumgarth was just 13 when he died of the virus in October, while his mother, a nurse who had also been infected, watched him.
The eighth-grader was diagnosed with coronavirus just six days earlier, but suddenly took a turn for the worse with falling oxygen levels, her mother, Stephanie Franek, told The Sun.
As doctors at SSM Health’s Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital worked frantically to save the lives of eighth-graders, Peyton began bleeding, his mother said.
“I had this big cough attack and it basically started bleeding in my chest,” he said.
When a doctor tried to place tubes around the boy’s neck to help him oxygenate the blood, the fluid was sprayed everywhere, covering the walls, medical equipment and the doctor himself, Franek said.
“I never thought this would happen,” Stephanie said.
“We don’t hear about children who have COVID and it’s so serious. She was shocked. I cannot describe this sudden devastating loss, “he added.
“I hope people take COVID more seriously and don’t say it’s a political agenda or some kind of fake news or that it’s the same as the flu.”