FORT WORTH, Texas (KTVT) – A Texas family is mourning the loss of a 9-year-old boy to COVID-19 after he got worse and died within 24 hours.
JJ Boatman, 9, died at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, January 26. His family says the boy was known for his big bear hugs.
“He was a loving and caring boy. Whenever he saw you or any family member, he would run and hug you, ”said Gabriel Ayala, the boy’s uncle.
A few weeks before his death, JJ celebrated his 9th birthday with tacos and cake.
“We never knew this was going to be his last birthday,” Ayala said.
The 9-year-old boy had asthma, but Ayala says he was still very active, always playing with his older cousins or sisters. In fact, the family says that JJ was running and playing hours before his symptoms started.
“He was just running and playing earlier that day, and at night, he was screaming and crying for his mother who couldn’t breathe. Her mother went there, and her face was already blue and her lips were too, ”said Ayala.
JJ’s mother rushed him to the emergency room, and he was flown to Cook Children’s. When he arrived, his lungs were filled with fluid. The 9-year-old boy’s heart stopped the next morning.
The doctors told the family that JJ died of complications related to COVID-19. Before being hospitalized, no one knew that the 9-year-old boy had the virus.
“She didn’t know that she would come home empty-handed without her son. It is difficult, of course. That was her son. That was his only son, ”said Ayala of JJ’s mother.
Ayala says JJ’s story shows that anyone can get COVID-19, and he hopes people will continue to take the threat seriously, while his family suffers for the 9-year-old whose life was interrupted.
“We are going to miss his life. His life had not even started, ”said Ayala.
A family-created GoFundMe raised more than $ 20,000.
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