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A 15-year-old Kentucky girl with special needs who overcame leukemia last year has died after a battle with the coronavirus, local officials have said.
Alexa Rose Veit died on Sunday, about three weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a statement from Ballard County Emergency Management Director Travis Holder.
Described as a “social butterfly” with a bright smile, Alexa, who was born with Down syndrome, was diagnosed with cancer in July 2019. By August of that year, she was considered in remission from the disease. brutal.
But on October 26, the first year of high school was not feeling well, so her mother pulled her out of school and took her for a coronavirus test. Both she and her mother tested positive.
The girl’s mother was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator shortly after, officials said. At the time, Alexa’s grandparents were also in the hospital with COVID-19.
Although Alexa had only mild symptoms at first, her condition quickly deteriorated and she was hospitalized with the virus and pneumonia. She eventually had to be placed on a ventilator.
Her mother was released from the hospital on November 14 and rushed to her daughter’s bedside. Alexa died the next day.
In a statement on Facebook, Ballard Memorial High School, where the teenager was a student, wrote: “Our world is a little less bright today without Alexa, and she will always be missed.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear spoke of the girl’s tragic death at a press conference Thursday, calling her a “beautiful child of God,” the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
“It is a great loss for this community and for their family, we are so sorry that this has happened,” said Beshear. “Our commitment is to do better. So today and everyday I wear my mask for Alexa and hope you will too. “
County officials also pleaded with residents to take the virus seriously and adhere to safety measures.
“Alexa was 15, she had pre-existing health issues, but she was 15,” Holder said in the statement. “We have to realize that this is real.”
“We need to start taking the precautions seriously,” he continued. “There is nothing we can do to get rid of COVID-19, but it is our duty as citizens to do whatever we can to reduce the spread to our fellow human beings.”
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