A healthy Chicago senior high school student contracted COVID-19 just before Christmas – and died within days, as the virus “consumed” her, says her family.
“She called me crying to say that, you know, ‘mom, I’m going to miss Christmas’. And I had to assure her that it’s just one day on the calendar, and when she gets home, ‘We’ll do Christmas with you.’ … Unfortunately she doesn’t [leave the hospital]”Said Sarah Simental’s grieving mother, Deborah Simental, to the local ABC-TV affiliate.
“It literally devoured her,” said the mother of the coronavirus. “And no parent should have to watch their son go through this.”
Deborah said her 18-year-old daughter had no health problems when she had a headache and started experiencing a sore throat and body aches on December 23.
Sarah felt so bad that her parents took her to a local hospital – where she just got worse and was flown to the University of Chicago Hospital, ABC said.
The teenager never recovered, dying the day after Christmas.
“I have no words for that. I just can’t believe how fast this has progressed, ”Sarah’s father, Don Simental, told the outlet.
Deborah said the only consolation for her and her husband is that they were able to stand by their daughter when she died.
“She said, ‘I’m going to be fine, mom.’ And that was the last thing, ”recalls the mother. “So I know she knows that, eventually, we’ll all be fine. We’ll miss her, but we’ll be fine. “
Still, “I’m thinking that I’m going to miss some real milestones that every mother wants to have with her daughter,” said the mother.