8-year-old Jacksonville dies of coronavirus-related syndrome, family says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Friends and family mourn the loss of an 8-year-old girl from Jacksonville after she died early Saturday morning of a COVID-19-related syndrome.

Deaurra Nealy was a second grader at Twin Lakes Academy Elementary. She was described by her family as a loving, caring girl who was a good student.

‘She strived to be good at everything, her grades. She had all 100’s and a 95, and she didn’t think that was good enough. That’s the type of person she was, ”said Dearick Nealy, Deaurra’s father. She wanted to cheer people up, and she brightened up the room when she entered. I mean, she’s inspired so many people in such a short time. I just knew she was just a perfect kid. “

According to her father, Deaurra died just days after the first signs of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, or MIS-C, an illness in children that usually follows infection or exposure to the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dearick said his child’s tests came back and showed that she was negative for the virus, as well as that she was infected at one point.

“A perfectly healthy child, just starting for normal stomach pain and a negative COVID test,” he said. “And then her fever wouldn’t break.”

As MIS-C develops, parts of the body can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs, according to the CDC.

“Unfortunately, this is a syndrome where it’s quite pronounced when the children have it,” said Dr. Jonathan Kantor of Penn Center for Epidemiology. “Again, it is thought to be somehow a reaction in the body, some kind of inflammatory response, but not really well understood what exactly causes it.”

The CDC says of the syndrome, “We don’t know why some children have become ill with MIS-C and others have not. We also don’t know if children with certain health conditions are more likely to get MIS-C. These are some of the many questions that CDC is trying to understand. “

“The key message is that that’s why it’s so important for us to take COVID-19 seriously, in every population,” said Kantor.

Deaurra’s father said he wants to warn other families as well, urging everyone to follow safety guidelines.

“Many people are told that COVID-19 does not affect children. And so many people get lazy with simple hygiene measures like masks and hand sanitizer – just a simple thing, ”he said. “It’s to help not pass that on to anyone else.”

The family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with medical expenses.