5-Year-Old Dies Of Stroke After Contracting COVID-19, Other Infections

Close-Up Of Mother Holding Hands Of Medicated Child On Bed At Hospital

Photo: Getty Images

A 5-year-old boy from Georgia has died after contracting multiple infections COVID-19.

ABC News reports Wyatt Gibson, of Calhoun, passed away on July 16 after suffering a stroke, according to a statement issued by his grandmother, Andrea Mitchell.

Mitchell said Wyatt was a "typical healthy, happy boy" before getting sick last week, which the family believed initially was due to food poisoning.

The child experienced symptoms for two days, which included vomiting, a loss of appetite and lethargy, before his parents took him to a hospital, which resulted in him being transported to a children's hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he diagnosed with strep and staph infections, as well as COVID-19, Mitchell confirmed.

Viral respiratory infection -- including COVID-19 -- can make an individual liable to secondary bacterial infections such as bacterial pneumonia or meningitis.

The 5-year-old suffered a stroke and died days after his diagnosis at the Chattanooga hospital.

The official cause of death has not yet been determined and hospital officials declined to comment due to federal privacy laws.

"All we know is a bright light has left. He left rainbows everywhere for us to see. We'll be constantly reminded, saddened, then maybe in time, make peace with it," she wrote. "For there was so much life in this 5-year-old boy. So much joy. So maybe it's not the quantity of life that we will miss. But the quality of life. That was pure bliss."

Mitchell confirmed that Wyatt's father, Wes Gibson, a local law enforcement officer, also contracted COVID-19 at the same time as his son.

The number of young children diagnosed continues to increase nationwide as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports more than 23,000 new pediatric cases were diagnosed in the U.S. last week, which is twice as many as the end of June, ABC News reports.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content