An eight-year-old boy's parents have captured the horrifying moment they thought their son wouldn't make it after he was rushed to...
An eight-year-old boy's parents have captured the horrifying moment they thought their son wouldn't make it after he was rushed to hospital following a cardiac arrest.
Jayden Hardowar had complained of a fever and diarrhea just five days before his heart failed and he was placed on a ventilator at a New York City medical center.
But a doctor was not concerned about the symptoms his mother Navita, and father Roup, claim, so they simply gave him Tylenol to break the fever.
However the child remained lacking energy and on April 29 the parents panicked after noticing his head and hands were twisted into alarming positions.
Jayden Hardowar had complained of a fever and diarrhea just five days before he was rushed to hospital April 29. He was taken off a ventilator over the weekend after three days
His family tried to speak to his via video call when he came off the breathing machine but they were heartbroken when he couldn't respond
'I heard him call for Mommy. Jayden has a strong voice when he calls for Mommy, (but) his voice was very low,' Navita said said. 'That voice grabbed my attention.
'I quickly looked over at his face and his lips were all blue at that point, so right away I knew something was not right here with Jayden.'
The mother said he did not respond when she called his name.
Jayden's 15-year-old Boy Scout brother Tyrone helped his father perform CPR until an ambulance came.
'As we moved on Atlantic Avenue, all I'm thinking in my mind is Jayden — is he gonna make it? Is he gonna make it?' Roup told WNBC.
Jayden was later transferred from Jamaica Hospital in Queens to the ICU at Cohen's Children's Hospital in Nassau County.
An image taken by his parents showed him hooked up to tubes as he struggled to breathe in his own. He was on a breathing machine for three days but was taken off this weekend and is doing better.
Forced to isolate, his family tried to speak to his via video call recently but were heartbroken that he couldn't respond. By Sunday he could communicate.
'It's still a nightmare thinking of where Jayden is right now. Last week about this time, we were all together having dinner, playing, working from home, teaching from home, learning from home,' his mother said.
'One of the scariest things as a mother, we're at home thinking something like this will never happen to us.'
Jayden was later transferred from Jamaica Hospital in Queens to the ICU at Cohen's Children's Hospital in Nassau County where other children had similar symptoms
Jayden tested positive for antibodies, indicating he previously had COVID-19 but his parents say no one in the household had symptoms. Now they are awaiting results of their own tests.
'None of us — six of us in the home: two adults, four kids — none of us had been sick, Roup said. 'We've all been very strong and practicing our social distancing very diligently … we thought we were safe.'
Doctors believe Jayden may have had toxic shock syndrome.
Dr. James Schneider said two other children entered Cohen's with similar symptoms on Sunday and the hospital now has six in the ICU.
The inflammatory syndrome can cause Kawasaki disease, leading to organ failure and permanent damage to arteries.
It's believed the syndrome is linked to the inflammation caused by coronavirus as four out of 15 patients currently in hospital with the syndrome have also tested positive for coronavirus.
Now doctors are asking parents to watch out for red eyes, abdominal pain and a rash in addition to fever.
'The fact that we don't know enough is very scary,' Navita said. 'It's a moment I don't ever want to relive or would like any parent to experience.'
The boy's father said he wants Dr. Anthony Fauci to address children and coronavirus more in the White House's daily briefings.
'A lot of parents believe what he says. Now we really want the top doctors to be on the news and to tell us more about how children are being affected now,' Roup said.
He added: 'He was a little kid, lying in bed with his mom — and then he went into cardiac arrest. A cardiac arrest could have been avoided if we were in the hospital earlier and (caught) it earlier.'
In New York on Tuesday there were more than 318,900 coronavirus cases and 19,415 deaths.
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