COLUMBIA, Mo. (KOMU) – A 3-year-old boy from Missouri is recovering at home after doctors say he had a stroke shortly after testing positive for COVID-19.
Sara Parris took her 3-year-old son Colt to the emergency room on December 15 because he could not hold fluids. He eventually tested positive for COVID-19, and the next morning she noticed he wasn’t speaking normally.
“I just thought he’s in so much pain and so tired because he’s not resting, that he just doesn’t have the energy to talk,” Parris said.
But then she noticed that he didn’t grab his stuffed animal like he normally would. Rather than taking it with his right hand, she says he “ reached completely over his body with his left arm. ”
It turned out that Colt had had a stroke that cut off the blood supply to the left side of his brain, preventing him from moving his right arm and leg.
Dr. Camilo Gomez, a neurologist at the hospital, says doctors were investigating the link between the virus and neurological problems.
“The COVID diagnosis is important because we think that the reason these patients with COVID, including this child, have strokes and a variety of other problems is that they tend to form clots,” Gomez said.
Gomez says his team rarely performs acute stroke interventions in children, but it’s not unheard of. He says helping Colt recover was the highlight of his week.
“The ability to give that family the child who is neurologically improved by the time Christmas rolls around, I thought it was excellent for us. They were just walking on sunshine, ”he said.
Colt’s mom hopes his experience will lead to more awareness about the complications of COVID-19, especially those that can occur in young children.
It can be much more serious than just the flu. Children will get it, can get it. You may not have any symptoms, as we did. We had no idea he even had it, ”Parris said.
Colt is now out of the hospital, but still has trouble moving his right arm and leg. His mother says that if a stranger saw him, they might not know anything had happened, but as his mother knows, he is still not quite himself.
It is expected that the 3-year-old will make a full recovery after physical therapy.
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