A mother in Ohio is remembering her daughter who tragically passed away from COVID-19 in August.
Dorielis Reyes-Paula was 9 when she passed away from coronavirus on Aug. 19, People reports. The fourth grader grappled with complications stemming from COVID, including brain inflammation and body paralysis, for three months before she passed away.
“She was a happy kid, always talking and dancing,” Dorielis’ mother, Doranny M. Paula Escolastico, 31, told the outlet. "She wanted to learn piano."
Doranny, who lives in Middleton, says that her daughter took on her battle with the virus with hope and a positive attitude.
“She always faced everything with a big smile, and that’s why we miss her,” the mother said. “It makes me feel better because I know she never was negative, always positive. I was so blessed for having her.”
The first sign that Dorielis was sick was on Mother’s Day this year, when the girl fell down while playing with other children.
After she noticed that her daughter still had trouble walking, Escolastico took her daughter to the hospital, where doctors examined the 9-year-old but were stumped by symptoms including symptoms.
“They told me maybe it was like she was growing and her muscle hurt,” the mother explained. “Then they sent me to the children’s hospital to check her immune system.”
When a COVID test for the girl came back positive, the mother says she was surprised, especially given the relatively mild and seemingly unrelated effects of the illness on Dorielis.
“It was a surprise to me because I wasn’t expecting that she would have COVID,” Escolastico says. “She had muscle pain, but she didn’t have anything else. I just gave her Tylenol.”
Dorielis remained in the hospital for some time, even celebrating her 9th birthday there on June 5. The mom says her daughter was feeling well enough that day to get dressed up and let her braid her hair, and kept up a sunny temperament, saying “I am beautiful.”
However, Doranny still faced some challenging moments as a parent, like when Dorielis broached the topic of death with her.
“She said, 'I want to go with Jesus,' and I told her, ‘You are too young for that.’ I didn’t want to think about it,’’ Escolastico says.
What followed was a long, emotional journey of treatment for escalating symptoms. After being discharged from the hospital on July 14, the girl faced some harrowing challenges.
“She was always talking. When I brought her home, she was quiet except when she was screaming [in pain] like she was losing her mind,” Escolastico says. “She wanted to play with her sisters, but she couldn't. She had a wheelchair then. She wanted to run, but she couldn't.”
After facing more and more severe seizures, the girl had to return to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where doctors told the mother that her daughter was dying of COVID-19.
Because she was one of the first young people to die from COVID-19, Escolastico says her autopsy is still underway months later.
“Now it’s December. I just called pathology. They still aren’t done with her,” the mother said. “They want to study her brain to help other kids.”
Dorielis is survived by her single mother, as well as her sisters Danelis, 8, Ester, 4, and twin siblings Debora and Ezequiel, almost 2.
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