Makenzie Gongora.Photo: gofundme
The family of a 9-year-old girl is “shattered” after she suddenly died in her sleep, just three daysafter testing positive for COVID-19.
Makenzie Gongora, a 4th-grader from San Antonio, Texas, started feeling sick in her after-school care program on Friday, Jan. 29.
“Kenzie was complaining about a really bad headache and then they took her temperature and she had a fever,” her aunt, Victoria Southworth,told KSAT.
Makenzie’s mom, Kristle, took her to a medical center later that day to get tested for COVID-19, strep and the flu. While the strep and flu tests came back negative, the COVID-19 test was positive.
Makenzie, who had no preexisting conditions other than being a little small for her age, the familytoldToday, was experiencing just mild symptoms and no respiratory problems.
“The doctors told my sister-in-law [to] take her home and to make her comfortable, to monitor her fever, and if it got over a certain point, or if there were any other major issues that occurred, to go ahead and bring her back to the hospital,” another aunt, Erica Gongora, told the outlet.
Throughout the weekend, Makenzie’s family monitored her closely. She said at times that she wasn’t feeling well and started vomiting at one point, but otherwise “seemed to be recuperating,” Southworth told KSAT.
On Monday night, Makenzie told her mom that she was very tired and that her stomach hurt, and went to bed early. Shortly after midnight, Makenzie died.
The family is waiting on an autopsy to better understand her cause of death.
And Makenzie’s sudden death, when COVID-19 is typically milder for young children, has left her doctors “baffled,” Erica said.
“We want to get answers as to why she was taken so quickly from us,” Southworth said to KSAT.
As they wait for more information, Southworth hasset up a GoFundMefor funeral and medical expenses, and any income loss as Makenzie’s parents and her sister, 8-year-old Sophia, mourn her death.
Southworth and Erica are sharing Makenzie’s story to show how the virus can affect kids.
“We want to raise awareness because whatever it is that caused this, there just needs to be a general change in the way that people approach children and COVID,” Southworth said.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
