According to her family, an 18-year-old girl died in Illinois a few days after contracting COVID-19.
Sarah Simental, who lived in the suburb of Tinley Park in Chicago, died of the virus a day after Christmas, Cook County officials said.
The girl’s mother, Deborah Simental, told ABC affiliate WLS that the virus had literally just eaten her through.
“No parent needs to watch their child go through it,” she said.
Sarah Simental poses for a Christmas photo with her dog.
(Thanks to Deborah Simental)
Simental said her daughter experienced symptoms for the first time last Wednesday and tested positive for COVID-19. She was admitted to the hospital and flown to the University of Chicago for treatment, reports the Chicago Tribune.
According to the provincial medical examiner, the teenager died Sunday of acute hypoxic respiratory failure and non-traumatic cerebral hemorrhage due to the infection.
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“She was a healthy young lady who had just turned 18 and had the world in her hands,” her mother told The Tribune.
She said her daughter “is an example that this can happen to the youngest and healthiest people … It really is.”
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A funeral for Sarah is being held Wednesday at Lawn Funeral Home in Orland Park, Illinois, according to her obituary.