A Missouri mother hopes the sight of her dying son’s blood dripping down the wall of a hospital room will help Americans take COVID-19 seriously.
Peyton Baumgarth was just 13 years old when he died of the virus in October, while his mother – a nurse who was also infected – watched.
The eighth grader was diagnosed with coronavirus just six days earlier, but suddenly took a turn for the worse when his oxygen levels plummeted, his mother, Stephanie Franek, told The Sun.
While doctors at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital worked frantically to save the life of the eighth grade, Peyton began to bleed, his mother said.
“He had a big coughing fit and he actually started bleeding in his chest,” she said.
While a doctor tried to place tubes in the boy’s neck to supply his blood with oxygen, the fluid sprayed all over the walls, medical equipment and the doctor himself, Franek said.
“I never thought this would happen,” said Stephanie.
“You don’t hear that children get COVID and that it is so serious. I was just in shock. I cannot describe that sudden devastating loss, ”she added.
“I hope people will take COVID more seriously and not say it’s a political agenda or some kind of fake news or that it’s the same as the flu.”