As the new delta variant surges, COVID-19 infection rates among children have risen.
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A family from Alabama experienced a living nightmare after their 12-year-old son tested positive for COVID-19 and ended up in the hospital struggling to breathe. His family says that the preteen was a healthy and strong athlete, according to ABC News.
Brody Barnett, the patient, and his family are urging many across the United States to take COVID-19 seriously.
GeriLynn Vowell, Brody’s mother, said that her son tested positive on August 6 and experienced coronavirus symptoms that included coughing and trouble breathing.
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“He’s told his friends, 'This is the worst that I’ve ever been sick,'” she said.
Vowell explained how this is a “scary experience,” adding, “It ain’t nothing to joke with.”
Brody did not get vaccinated for the virus and tested positive after being with friends. When the family found out, they all purchased at-home COVID-19 kits.
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“I tested Brody and his test popped up positive immediately. Then we went to an actual testing site and it was the same result,” Vowell said.
Vowell said that she tested negative but tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
“My husband nor I have been vaccinated because we were positive for antibodies previously. We had just gotten the original COVID a few months back. So, we had just kind of been waiting to be vaccinated,” she said. Vowell said once they test negative for antibodies, they will receive the vaccine.
The first day that Brady came down with the virus, he started coughing and had a runny nose. In just 24 hours, he couldn’t breathe and said he had pain in his ribcage.
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“He was like, I cannot breathe, I cannot take a breath,” she said. “He couldn’t raise his arms over his head and take a breath.”
Vowell then took her son to Children’s of Alabama hospital in Birmingham. A doctor then diagnosed him with COVID pneumonia.
“It was scary. The doctors said there’s nothing we can do other than Tylenol or Motrin to treat symptoms,” Vowell said.
As of now, Brody is now resting at home and is slowly recovering.
“Our nights are still pretty rough. I feel like he’s feeling a little better now, we’re on Day 7. As far as walking outside, he gets winded very easily, his breathing isn’t where it should be and he still has lots of big coughing spells,” Vowell said.
Brody’s family now wants to educate Americans about how dangerous the virus is to children.
“Kids do get sick and [the virus] is real. We’re not out to condemn or condone or any of the political side of it,” Vowell said. “I just want to make other mommas and parents aware that it is real for kids and kids do get sick and it’s a scary thing when they do.”
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