A New York City firefighter and his wife lost their 4-month-old daughter to the coronavirus, the family said. Jay-Natalie La Santa died on Monday, nearly a month after she was rushed to the hospital with a fever.
The baby was the first child for Jerel La Santa, a firefighter, and his wife, Lindsey La Santa. The baby was rushed to the hospital on March 21 after she developed a fever. Wanda La Santa, the baby’s grandmother, said Jay-Natalie was born with a heart condition and she was admitted right away. Her initial test for the virus came back negative. Tests for Wanda La Santa and the baby’s parents also came back negative. After nearly a week in the hospital with no improvement, Jay-Natalie was tested again for the coronavirus and this time it came back positive.
The first 16 days Jay-Natalie was in the hospital “she was awake, she was fighting,” her grandmother said; however she took a turn for the worse shortly thereafter, and died at the hospital on April 20, just one week shy of turning 5-months-old.
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