A 15-year-old special-needs Kentucky girl who battled leukemia last year has died after a battle with the coronavirus, local officials said.
A statement from Travis Holder, Ballard County’s director of emergency management, said Alexa Rose Witt died Sunday.
Described as a “social butterfly” with a bright smile, Alexa, who was born with Down syndrome, was diagnosed with cancer in July 2019. By August of that year, she was considered free from the ruthless disease.
But on October 26, the new high school student was not in good health, so his mother pulled him out of school and took him for a coronavirus test. Both she and her mother tested positive.
The girl’s mother was admitted to the hospital and placed on a ventilator shortly after, officials said. At the time, Alexa’s grandparents were also in the hospital with COVID-19.
Although Alexa already had mild symptoms, her condition quickly deteriorated and she was hospitalized with the virus and pneumonia. Eventually she had to be put on a ventilator.
Her mother was released from the hospital on November 14 and she was rushed to her daughter’s bedside. The next day Alexa died.
In a statement on Facebook, Ballard Memorial High School, where he was a teenage student, wrote that “our world today is a little less bright without Alexa in it, and it will always be missed.”
A report in the Louisville Courier Journal states that Kentucky Govt. Andy Besher addressed the tragic death of the girl during a news conference on Thursday.
“This is a great loss for the community and for his family,” Basheer said. “Our commitment is to do better. So today and every day, I wear my mask for Alexa and I hope you do too. “
County officials also urged residents to take the virus seriously and pay attention to safety measures.
“Alexa was 15 years old, if her health was the same as before, but she was 15,” Holder said in a statement. “We realize this is real.”
“We should start taking it seriously carefully,” he continued. “There is nothing we can do to get rid of Covid-1 of, but it is our duty as citizens to do as much as we can to reduce the spread among our fellow human beings.”
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