The sister mother of a 13-year-old boy who died of COVID-19 after a coughing fit has described his blood being splashed over a hospital wall as she urged Americans to take the pandemic seriously.
Peyton Baumgarth, who had asthma and a thyroid problem, died of COVID-19 complications on Oct. 31, just six days after showing symptoms.
Peyton’s devastated mother Stephanie Franek, a 44-year-old nurse and mother of two, had taken him to a hospital in Missouri just two days earlier after his condition suddenly worsened as his nail beds turned blue and he struggled to speak easily.
He then had a severe coughing fit in the ICU unit of SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and died because doctors could not increase his blood oxygen levels.
Peyton Baumgarth, who had asthma and a thyroid problem, died on October 31 when he had a severe coughing fit in the ICU of SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, St. Louis
Peyton’s devastated mother Stephanie Franek, 44, had taken him to hospital just two days earlier after his condition suddenly worsened as his nail beds turned blue and he had trouble talking easily
Franek has discussed her son’s last moments to remind that children can also die from the virus.
The 13-year-old’s tragic death came just six weeks before his aunt – who was also a nurse – died of the deadly virus.
Peyton’s distraught mother told The Sun that she tested positive for the virus on Oct. 25 and that both she and her son began to show mild symptoms.
Franek said Peyton’s symptoms didn’t seem life-threatening and they just spent their time in quarantine to watch Netflix together.
But on October 29, she said she had noticed her son was taking a turn for the worse.
Peyton’s fingernail and toenail beds turned blue, and he was having trouble holding a conversation, she said.
The concerned mother took her son to the hospital that day, where doctors found his oxygen saturation level had dropped to 44 percent – less than half the level of a healthy person.
Franek said she was shocked about this because as a nurse I have never seen anyone walk and talk with an oxygen saturation level of only 44 percent.
Within an hour, Peyton was on a respirator and received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – a treatment that replaces the function of the lungs by pumping blood to an artificial lung that adds oxygen and removes carbon dioxide.
Franek told the outlet that she still thought ‘we’ll get over this bump and take it home’.
But two days later, on October 31, Peyton deteriorated rapidly and had a coughing fit and bleeding in his chest.
The 13-year-old’s tragic death (just like his mother) came just six weeks before his aunt died of the deadly virus
“He had a big coughing fit and he was actually starting to have bleeding in his chest,” she said.
Doctors performed CPR and attempted to replace the ECMO tubes in his neck to increase his oxygen levels, which sprayed the blood that had collected in his chest over the surgeons and the hospital walls, his mother said.
“It was the cardiothoracic surgeon everywhere and he just kept working,” she said.
A team of 10 nurses and four doctors tried desperately to save him, but they failed and Franek watched as her son died.
Franek was hit again six weeks later when her sister died of COVID-19 on December 7.
Cyndi Crawford, a 57-year-old trauma nurse, had contracted the virus the week before Thanksgiving and was also on a respirator and was given ECMO before she died.
“One loss alone would have been heartbreaking, but these two completely shattered our hearts,” Franek said.
Franek said she was shocked that her son died of COVID-19, as it is usually not that deadly to children.
“Never did I ever think this would happen,” she said.
‘You don’t hear kids getting Covid and it’s that serious. I was just in shock.
“I can’t describe that sudden devastating loss.”
Franek said she wants to share her son’s story to warn people to take the virus seriously and not see COVID-19 as a “political” thing.
“I hope people will take Covid more seriously and not say it’s a political agenda or some kind of fake news or it’s the same as the flu,” she said.
She said her family had been “so careful” during the pandemic but fell ill anyway.
‘We were so careful. When ever we went anywhere we always wore masks and we always washed our hands and used hand sanitizer and we still got Covid, ‘she warned.
Peyton’s distraught mother told The Sun that she tested positive for the virus on Oct. 25 and that both she and her son began to show mild symptoms. On October 29, she took him to the hospital when his nail beds turned blue
Doctors found his oxygen saturation levels had dropped to 44 percent – less than half the level of a healthy person
Franek told the outlet that she still thought ‘we’ll get over this bump and take it home’. But two days later, on October 31, Peyton died
She said that while “ getting out of bed every day is a struggle, ” she has found some comfort in reuniting with her ex Chris Lottmann who was “ very close to Peyton. ”
Franek paid tribute to her son and described him as “the sweetest boy” who “made everyone laugh.”
A recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that one million children had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on Nov. 12, accounting for 11.5 percent of all cases in the US at that time.
At the time, 133 children had died, meaning the death rate was 0.01 percent, while between 0.5 percent and 6.1 percent of all childhood COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization.
Children are typically at a lower risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from the coronavirus, with the CDC reporting that the risk of serious illness increases with age.
Across the country, nearly 17.5 million people of all ages are now infected and 313,000 have died.
According to the COVID Tracking Project, hospital admissions hit record levels Friday with 114,751 patients across America.
The number of cases also increased 228,825 in one day, while another 2,751 people died.
