Caitlin Whisnant, Will County, Illinois teen born with genetic immune deficiency passes away from COVID-19 after not exhibiting dramatic symptoms. Mystery death of young victim from coronavirus which has mainly afflicted older individuals.
An 18-year-old Illinois teen girl was found dead from the coronavirus just moments after telling her father that she was ‘fine’ – and two weeks after her celebrating her birthday.
Caitlin Whisnant, from Will County, was born with a genetic immune deficiency and was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this April.
Her father said that she did not have severe symptoms while she stayed at her sister’s home under quarantine.
‘I talked to her in a video call,’ her father, Jody Whisnant told via CBS Chicago. ‘Honey, how are you feeling?’ ‘Dad, I feel fine. I’m just a little tired.”
But her mother, Kristan Whisnant, found her unresponsive just moments after.
‘I found her passed away and tried to revive her,’ Kristin said.
The parents said Caitlin, the youngest of five children, loved to make other people happy.
‘Caitlin, she was my right hand here,’ said Kristin. ‘If something needed to be done, she was always here helping me.’
How coronavirus affects younger and older individuals much differently with rare fatalities among the young:
Caitlin’s funeral was on Saturday but only certain family members could attend as her mother is currently recovering from the coronavirus herself.
Her father added: ‘Even as a teenager she would hold my hand. She would my wife’s hand when we’d go out in public, and you know how rare that is. She didn’t care who knew how much she loved her family.’
‘I would want the world to know how wonderful our daughter was.’
The teen, who excelled in math and science, is just one of the few cases of children dying from the coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 deaths in Illinois. To date only three individuals under the age of 19 have passed away as a result of the deadly bug in the state.
‘Children compared to adults are a relatively less affected population when it comes to COVID-19,’ said Doctor Larry Kociolek via CBS Chicago.
The doctor is the director of Infection Prevention and Control at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
Adding, ‘About 80% of children that we have diagnosed withCOVID-19 have not required hospitalization, and many of those children have had such a mild illness that they probably did not need to be seen by the pediatrician either.’
Kociolek said physicians don’t have a full understanding why the mortality rate is so low among the very young, but he said many of those with difficulty have pre-existing conditions.
