7-year-old dies of COVID days after dream of being big sister comes true, TN mom says
A second-grader died this week in Tennessee after COVID-19 triggered an auto-immune response that “shut her little body down,” her family says.
Adalyn Rita Graviss died just a week after her dream of being a big sister became true, according to Knoxville mom Jennifer Kowalski-Graviss, who gave birth to her baby sister Ella on Jan. 28.
“This girl was our whole world,” Kowalski-Graviss wrote Feb. 8 on Facebook.
“She was so brave and so strong. She prayed for so many years to be a big sister and we are so thankful she was able to have all her dreams come true even for a few short days.”
Adalyn, 7, died at Feb. 7 “after developing a severe neurological response to COVID-19,” according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.
Her mom told the newspaper the “rare disorder” began with a fever on Feb. 4 “and then went downhill all of a sudden.”
Adalyn’s mother says COVID-19 “triggered” something called ADEM, a neurological disorder in which “the immune system reacts against the brain and spinal cord,” according to Boston Children’s Hospital.
Details of Adalyn’s worsening condition began appearing Feb. 6 on Facebook, with her mother noting the girl had been admitted to an intensive care unit the night before.
“She was very lethargic and wouldn’t respond. She needs a miracle,” her mother wrote.
“We need our girl to wake up! We need our God to heal our sweet baby so she can come home and be the best big sister that she has prayed for so many years to be.”
The girl was in critical condition when she was transferred Feb. 7 to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
“We have to keep praying for a miracle for the next 24-48 hours,” her mother wrote on Facebook.
She died Monday evening, the family said.
“She gave her life to Jesus and loved him more than we could’ve ever imagined,” her mom wrote. “We love you baby girl and we will all be together again soon.”
Adalyn was a second-grader at Rocky Hill Elementary School in Knoxville, according to details posted on the SPEAK: Students Parents Educators Across Knox County Facebook page.
More than 77 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the U.S. as of Feb. 9, according to Johns Hopkins University, with more than 909,000 deaths.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 7:25 AM with the headline "7-year-old dies of COVID days after dream of being big sister comes true, TN mom says."