Photo Courtesy of Go Fund Me
On October 23, a Texas mother of 10-year-old Zyrin Foots was forced to take her son off of life support after he contracted COVID-19 and was battling between life and death.
According to ABC 13, Foots’ aunt Ashley Engmann said that he was admitted to the hospital on September 30 with COVID-19, and his body was progressively shutting down.
Engmann said her nephew was diagnosed with the respiratory syncytial virus or RSV and that he was suffering from a rare but fatal complication of the COVID-19 known as MIS-C. Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, which in children causes inflammation in various parts of the body, including the heart.
Engmann said doctors had given Foots’ mom two options, “They gave my sister a choice: to amputate his legs and arms or let him go,” Engmann said. “Without the amputation, he doesn’t have any chance to live. With it, he has a 25% chance.”
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Foots was enrolled as a student at Huntsville Intermediate School, where it is believed that he contracted the virus. Aside from Foots, three staff members have also been diagnosed with the virus.
“He coded. They did compressions and brought him back,” Engmann said. “Three hours later, they got him back and transferred him and did open heart surgery. It’s been a progression since then.”
“Because his heart couldn’t pump blood, he developed gangrene in the legs,” Engmann said.
Foot’s mom has now faced the most difficult decision of her life as a parent and has chosen not to let her son suffer anymore.
“She’s going to end up letting him go because that’s the most humane and compassionate thing she can do for her child,” Engmann said.
The young boy’s aunt said doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital had told the family that Foots is one of the worst cases they have seen.
Foots’ family created a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover “final expenses” and funeral costs.