DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A young girl in North Carolina has died after a battle with the coronavirus.
WRAL reports that Aurea Soto Morales died Monday after she was hospitalized for complications from COVID-19.
The second-grader from Durham had started feeling sick in late May and was rushed to the hospital after having a seizure. Relatives said her brain swelled before she went into a coma and eventually passed away.
Family members said they want to spread the message that children are not immune to the virus and that people should take the pandemic seriously.
“It just went down so quickly and I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her,” said her sister Jennifer Jano Morales.
She added: “She liked being the boss of herself. She was very confident of herself. Every time we would take a picture she would always strike a pose.”
The girl’s elementary school principal, Victoria Creamer, said in a statement that Aurea was “a shining light wherever she went.”
