A Missouri mom hopes the sight of her dying son’s blood dripping down a hospital room wall will help Americans take COVID-19 seriously.
Peyton Baumgarth was just 13-years-old when he died of the virus in October, as his mom — a nurse who had also been infected — looked on.
The eighth-grader was diagnosed with coronavirus just six days prior, but suddenly took a turn for the worse with his oxygen levels plummeting, his mom, Stephanie Franek, told The Sun.
As doctors at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital worked frantically to save the eighth grader’s life, Peyton began to hemorrhage, his mom said.
“He had this big coughing fit and he basically started to hemorrhage in his chest,” she said.
As one doctor tried to place tubes into the boy’s neck to help oxygenate his blood, the fluid sprayed everywhere, coating the walls, medical equipment and the physician himself, Franek said.
“Never did I ever think this was going to happen,” Stephanie said.
“You don’t hear about kids getting COVID and it being that serious. I was just in shock. I can’t describe that sudden devastating loss,” she added.
“I hope people will take COVID more seriously and not say it is a political agenda or some type of fake news or that it is the same as the flu.”