COLUMBIA, Mo. (KOMU) – A 3-year-old boy from Missouri is recovering at home after doctors said he had a stroke shortly after testing positive for COVID-19.
Sara Parris took her 3-year-old son Colt to the emergency on December 15 because he could not suppress any fluid. Eventually, he tested positive for COVID-19, and the next morning she noticed that he was not speaking normally.
“I just thought he was in so much pain and he’s so tired because he’s not resting that he just does not have the energy to talk,” Parris said.
But then she noticed that he was not grabbing his stuffed animal as he normally would. Instead of taking it with his right hand, she says he “stabbed his left arm completely over his body.”
It turned out that Colt had a stroke that cut off the blood supply to the left side of his brain, which prevented him from moving his right arm and leg.
Dr. Camilo Gomez, a neurologist at the hospital, says doctors have investigated the link between the virus and neurological problems.
“The COVID diagnosis is important because we think the reason these COVID patients, including this child, have strokes and a variety of other problems is that they tend to form blood clots,” Gomez said.
Gomez says his team rarely performs acute stroke interventions on children, but that is not unheard of. He says Colt’s help with recovery was the highlight of his week.
‘The ability to give that family the child that by the time Christmas is neurologically improved, I thought it was best for us. “They just walked in the sunshine,” he said.
Colt’s mother hopes his experience leads to more awareness about the complications of COVID-19, especially in young children.
‘It can be much more serious than just the flu. Kids will get it, can get it. Maybe you have no symptoms like us. “We had no idea he even had it,” Parris said.
Colt is now out of the hospital but is still having trouble moving his right arm and leg. His mother says that when a stranger sees him, they may not know that something has happened, but his mother she knows that he is still not completely himself.
The 3-year-old is expected to fully recover after physical therapy.
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