Parents mourn the loss of daughter, 5, after she dies from COVID-19
Tajan Drone was discharged from the hospital but was unresponsive when she returned home and died from COVID-19
Lastassija White and Quincy Drone’s daughter, Tagan Drone, a kindergarten student at the Amarillo Independent School District in Amarillo, Texas, has died of COVID-19 complications, NBC News reports. She was 5-years-old.
Tagan reportedly started showing unusual symptoms last week after she began vomiting and appeared to be very tired. She did not show any of the typical symptoms which include coughing and a high fever.
Read More: Michigan girl, 5, becomes state’s first child to die of coronavirus
When she arrived at the hospital doctors diagnosed her with COVID-19, but said that White and Drone shouldn’t be too worried as the virus rarely affects children. According to her parents, Tagan continued to decline and eventually stopped breathing.
“This doctor told us that our child would be fine, and our child didn’t even make it twenty-four hours. She died within the next fifteen hours,” said Drone, according to an NBC News affiliate, KAMR.
White told KAMR that her daughter always wore a mask and would remind her mother to put hers on if she forgot.
According to Amarillo Health Department Director Casie Stoughton, the department is “heartbroken and our thoughts and prayers go out to that particular family and any family who has lost someone here in our community,” according to KAMR.
Read More: Texas becomes 1st state to surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases
While coronavirus cases in children are still not as lethal as cases in older populations, children are still at risk for major complications and have been contracting the virus at record rates. Recent data shows the Amarillo Independent School District has the highest number of student and staff coronavirus cases, reported The Amarillo Globe-News.
Texas has just become the first state in the U.S. with more than 1 million COVID-19 cases as the country sees a new surge in virus cases.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
