A South Carolina mother has shared her baby's battle against coronavirus in a desperate Facebook appeal where she warned COVID-19 ca...
A South Carolina mother has shared her baby's battle against coronavirus in a desperate Facebook appeal where she warned COVID-19 can strike the very young.
Courtney Watts Doster shared images of her sick seven-month-old son Emmett Wednesday - the youngest person to test positive in the country.
It's unclear where the baby contracted coronavirus but Doster's mother was in close proximity with her child before she knew she was ill.
'COVID19 isn't a joke. This isn't time to go out and have play dates, or go to Walmart, or go out to eat. Stay home people please!' Doster posted on Facebook Wednesday.
Emmett Doster was the youngest person in the US to test positive for coronavirus Tuesday
Courtney Watts Doster got her son Emmett tested Monday. She's pictured with her husband (right) and two other children aged two and four. Now she's worried about their risk too
Doster – a married mother-of-three – was alarmed when Emmett developed a high fever on Monday but she wasn't sure whether the baby could be tested for COVID-19.
After several hours talking to South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and Prisma Health hospital on the phone, she was able to get him a test at Urgent Care.
Later that day Emmett's temperature spiked and he spent the night in hospital.
'Nothing worse than your 7 month old running 104 fever, being poked and prodded over and over, and then being told he's positive,' Doster continued in a Facebook post Wednesday. 'He has pneumonia which is the most severe form of this virus. Please read and learn facts....the CDC among other medical sites have tons of info!'
The results came back positive on Tuesday and now Doster is worried about her children aged two and four.
By Wednesday she said, 'Emmett was feeling much better'.
'I did notice tonight he was easily winded if he jumped too much or played a little hard. You could tell he didn't feel as well right before bed! But he has been fever free without meds since around 1pm yesterday!' Doster continued.
The mother added in another social media post Saturday that everyone needs to take the virus seriously, whether old or young.
It was as in the United States over 25,400 were confirmed to be infected and there were more than 300 coronavirus related deaths.
While the vulnerable are often classed as the elderly and those with certain underlying illnesses, such as diabetes or heart issues, advice has changed over time as more and more young people who tested positive had died or become severely ill from COVID-19.
However data does not take into account many who died and were not tested for the virus.
'People need to know that this nasty virus can affect anyone. It doesn't care how old you are! Like most, in the beginning, we thought this virus was a big media hype. We quickly changed our minds when my mom became extremely ill with this,' Doster explained. 'But even more so when our sweet, little 7 month old took a turn for the worst Monday afternoon. He went from being a smiley and bubbly baby to lethargic and extremely sick. We were told that this virus wasn't affecting small children so "no need to worry"! How wrong were they?!'
The mother appealed for people not to be selfish in their ways, even if they believe are not particularly vulnerable to the illness.
After her own mother was unknowingly a carrier, Doster urged others to think about how they could be harming strangers or someone they love.
'This is my PSA! Please take heed to these warnings. Stay inside. Don't go out to eat or to the park or to the bars. As much as it sucks to be at home, remember this.....IT'S NOT ABOUT JUST YOU! Stay home for your elderly parents or grandparents, or your immunocompromised sister, the newborn baby next door!' Doster wrote online.
'The more we stay home, wash our hands, and listen to the president or our governors, the CDC, etc the quicker this will be over and we can get back to somewhat normal lives. This virus is putting healthy, young, 30 something year olds in the ICU! More and more children and infants will contract this virus. And more and more will need to be in the ICU on ventilation.
'I have also experienced my oldest at just 2 years old hooked up to a ventilator from an extremely high fever that caused a complex febrile seizure. That was the scariest day in my life. I want to never experience it again and I don't want any other mamas to have to! So please, please stay at home.'
She added Emmett is home safe and resting but 'we know it can change in the matter of minutes'.
Doster added in a FaceTime call with WISTV: 'It’s very, very scary not to know -- could he make a turn for the worse tonight and just not be able to breathe. I’ve noticed him coughing more than he did in the beginning and so that’s very scary.'
The family has been told to quarantine until at least April 1.
FaceTime interview
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