In the early hours of February 2, Makenzie Gongora, 9, of San Antonio, Texas, unexpectedly died after being put to bed by her mother, Kristle Gongora. In interviews with TODAY, members on both sides of her family said she died three days after testing positive for COVID-19.
Makenzie’s dad’s sister Erica Gongora from Austin, TX TODAY said Makenzie complained of having really bad headaches and stomach aches when she was in daycare after school January 29. she had a fever.
According to Makenzie’s maternal aunt Victoria Southworth, 37, of Boonville, Missouri, Makenzie’s mother took her to Brooke Army Medical Center to have a COVID-19 test, a strep test and a flu test later in the day, according to Makenzie’s maternal aunt, Victoria Southworth, 37. day. While the strep and flu tests came back negative, the COVID-19 test was positive.
“Kenzie didn’t have any breathing problems,” Southworth said. “Nothing major was happening. All the symptoms were mild.
Gongora said TODAY, “The doctors told my sister-in-law (to) take her home and make her comfortable, watch her fever, and if it was over a certain point, or if it was. there were other major issues that were happening, to go ahead and get her back to the hospital.
“There was no labored breathing or anything like that at the time,” Gongora added.
The two aunts say that throughout the weekend, Makenzie’s symptoms continued to come and go, but overall everything was manageable and she was fine.
On February 1, Gongora recalled that Makenzie started complaining near bedtime that she felt very exhausted. She fell asleep early that night. “My sister-in-law later checked her at night and found that she was not breathing and could not find a pulse,” she said.
Makenzie’s family revealed that they were not aware of any underlying medical conditions she may have had, but noted that Makenzie was a bit short for her age.
The Makenzie School District in Northside, Texas announced his death in a statement to TODAY on behalf of his school, Scarborough Elementary.
“The Scarborough Elementary School community is saddened by the loss of fourth grade student Makenzie Gongora,” the statement said. “Our hearts go out to his family during this very difficult time.”
Remembered by her family as a bright and vibrant young woman, Makenzie enjoyed cooking and playing dress-up and Roblox, a user-generated gaming platform.
Shortly after Makenzie’s death, Southworth created a GoFundMe campaign, which has already raised over € 60,000. According to the fundraiser, she passed away on her father’s birthday, Nathan Gongora.
The two aunts shared that later that afternoon on the day of Makenzie’s death, her family underwent COVID-19 tests and her father and 8-year-old sister’s tests came back positive.
Besides trying to deal with their grief, Makenzie’s parents want to do whatever they can to make sure they don’t lose their second child to the virus, too, according to Gongora.
Currently, Makenzie’s family is awaiting more information on her cause of death. According to the sisters of both parents, her body was sent to a laboratory in Dallas, Texas, for examination. An autopsy is still in progress.
“Hopefully this will give us the answer to whether this was completely COVID related, or exacerbated by COVID or nothing to do with COVID,” Southworth said TODAY.
Gongora added, “We just want to know, was there something else that could have been done that could have saved her life?”
After the autopsy results, Makenzie’s body will be returned to San Antonio. After the quarantine is over, his family plan to bury him at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. TODAY verified that Makenzie was not eligible to be an organ donor for reasons related to COVID-19. According to LifeSource, a non-profit organ donation organization, if a person has or dies from an active COVID-19 infection, they are excluded from the right to become an organ, eye and tissue donor.
Makenzie’s aunts want her story to raise awareness that while children usually aren’t seriously ill from COVID-19, they can get seriously ill.
“(Makenzie’s parents) followed all of the directions given to them by the doctors, and the doctors are also baffled (as to) why Makenzie was one of the children caught by COVID,” Gongora said.
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