9-year-old boy dies of complications from COVID-19

FORT WORTH, Texas (KTVT) – A Texas family mourn the loss of a 9-year-old boy to COVID-19 after he took a bad turn and died within 24 hours.

JJ Boatman, 9, died at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas on Tuesday, January 26. His family say the boy was known for his big bear hugs.

“He was a loving and caring little boy. Every time he saw you or a family member he would run up and hug you, ”said Gabriel Ayala, the boy’s uncle.

A few weeks before his death, JJ celebrated his 9th birthday with tacos and cakes.

“We never knew it would be her last birthday,” Ayala said.

The 9-year-old had asthma, but Ayala says he was always very active, always playing with his cousins ​​or older sisters. In fact, the family say JJ was running and playing hours before his symptoms started.

“He was just running and playing earlier in the day, and at night he was screaming and crying at his mother that he couldn’t breathe. Her mother went and her face was already blue and her lips were blue, ”Ayala said.

JJ’s mother took him to the emergency room, and he was then airlifted to Cook Children’s. By the time he arrived, his lungs were filled with fluid. The 9-year-old’s heart gave out the next morning.

Doctors told the family that JJ died from complications from COVID-19. Before his hospitalization, no one knew the 9-year-old had the virus.

“She didn’t know she was going to come home empty-handed without her son. It’s just difficult, of course. It was her little boy. He was her only son, ”said Ayala of JJ’s mother.

Ayala says JJ’s story shows anyone can catch COVID-19, and he hopes people continue to take the threat seriously, as his family mourns for the 9-year-old whose life has been cut short.

“We are going to miss his whole life. Her life hadn’t even started, ”Ayala said.

A GoFundMe set up for the family raised more than $ 20,000.

Copyright 2021 KTVT via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.