Health
Florida teen Carsyn Leigh Davis dies of COVID-19 after large church function – 7NEWS.com.au
Carsyn Leigh Davis died two days after her 17th birthday.
A Florida teenager with a complex medical history died of COVID-19 after attending a large church function where she did not wear a mask and social distancing was not enforced.
When she became sick, her parents gave her a dose of hydroxychloroquine in the days before she died, according to a medical examiners report.
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Carsyn Leigh Davis, 17, of Fort Myers, fought health issues since age two.
They included cancer and an autoimmune disorder, her mother, Carole Brunton Davis, said in a Facebook post that has been deleted.
She told News-Press her daughters father died when she was 10.
Carsyn and 100 other children attended the church event on June 10, according to the Miami-Dade County medical examiners report.
Carsyn Davis. Credit: via WBBH-TV
It is unclear where Carsyn contracted COVID-19.
Her mother, a nurse, and her stepfather, a physicians assistant, prophylactically treated her with azithromycin, an antibiotic, from June 10 to June 15, the report says.
On June 13, Carsyn developed a frontal headache, sinus pressure, and a mild cough, which her family thought were due to a sinus infection.
Her symptoms persisted, and more than a week later, the report says, her mother, saying she looked grey while sleeping, gave her oxygen through her grandfathers portable machine and a dose of hydroxychloroquine.
Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malaria drug that President Donald Trump suggested could be beneficial for treating COVID-19, a theory that was debunked through a National Institutes of Health study.
Carsyn was taken to a hospital by her mother and her stepfather, according to the report.
She was then transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit at another hospital, where she was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 19.
Her parents initially declined intubation, the report says. She received plasma therapy on June 20 and 21.
On June 22, after her condition did not improve, she was intubated.
She was transferred to a Miami-Dade County hospital, where she died at 1.06pm on June 23, two days after her 17th birthday.
Data scientist Rebekah Jones is the former head of the Florida public information portal that lists the number of coronavirus casualties and cases.
She said in a series of recent tweets that the youth event Carsyn attended was hosted by First Assembly of God in Fort Myers.
The church told NBC News in a statement it is following all health guidance with regard to holding church services.
It is heartbreaking that a young lady who frequently attended Youth Church over the past few years has recently passed away, the church said.
The church, and many members of Youth Church particularly, had reached out to her family and her during her illness, praying for her and sending video messages and personal encouragement while she was going through her illness and in the hospital.
The church said that because false reports have been picked up, perpetuated and posted throughout national, local and social media, it has been subject to a relentless attack and finds itself forced to make this statement in an effort to get the truth out.
An alarming jump in coronavirus infections has led many more Americans to seek out testing. Credit: AP
Jones said on her website she is saddened by Carsyns death.
Every death on this website is heartbreaking. Every minute lost in someones life is a tragedy, she wrote.
She added, But this one will stick with me long after this virus has torn through our communities.
