A fourth-grader from Texas died unexpectedly in her sleep just three days after testing positive for COVID-19 – and now her family is desperately looking for answers.
Makenzie Gongora, 9, of San Antonio, was put to bed by her mother on Feb. 2 after complaining that she felt exhausted – and never woke up, according to ‘Today’.
“My sister-in-law looked at her later that night and realized she could no longer breathe and could not find a pulse,” the girl’s aunt, Erica Gongora, told the program.
According to the family, Makenzie first complained of stomach aches and headaches on January 29 during her after-school program.
After staff at the program found her temperature and found she had a fever, the girl’s mother, Kristle Gongora, took her daughter to Brooke Army Medical Center, where Makenzie tested positive for COVID-19.
“Kenzie had no breathing problems,” another aunt, Victoria Southworth, told “Today.” “There was nothing important going on. All the symptoms were mild. ”
Doctors sent Makenzie home and told her mother to monitor the fever, Gongora said.
‘The doctors told my sister-in-law to take her home and to make her comfortable, to monitor her fever, and whether it was over a certain point, or if there were other major problems, to go ahead and bring her back to the hospital, ”she said.
“There was no difficulty breathing or anything like that at that point,” she added.
The family said Makenzie was small for her age, but they were not aware of any conditions that existed before her death.
The grieving family is now awaiting autopsy results to determine what killed their little girl.
“We just want to know,” Erica Gongora said. “Was there anything else that could be done to save her life?”
A GoFundMe page set up by Southworth raised nearly $ 65,000 on Monday morning – more than double the $ 30,000 goal.
“We are still absolutely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support,” Southworth wrote on the page.
“That you, from the depths of our hearts, to those who sent prayers, wishes, money donations, meals, words of wisdom and thoughts.”