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Mother of 9-Year-Old Dying from COVID-19 Says She's 'Waiting for a Miracle'

  • Amanda Casanova

    Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and…

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  • Updated Aug 20, 2020

An Ohio mother says her 9-year-old daughter is saying she is “going to be with Jesus” after the girl tested positive for COVID-19.

According to The Christian Post, doctors have told Dorielis Reyes’ mother that she is in “the process of dying.”

"She always said, ‘I’m going to be with Jesus," Doranny Escolastico-Paula told the Journal-News of her daughter, Dorielis Reyes. “I want to go be with Jesus. I want to go first.”

Paula says that Reyes began showing symptoms on May 10 and then was hospitalized May 19.

“She always had a curious spirit, was never afraid to make new friends, and loved to go to church,” Paula wrote. “On the 10th of May of this year, she began walking a little strange, and later began to drag one of her feet because she couldn't walk on it. I took her to the hospital because it was obviously not normal for her. She later lost movement in parts of her body and there at the hospital, she was tested for COVID-19 where the results came out positive.”

In a GoFundMe campaign page, Paula says that doctors aren’t sure why her daughter’s brain is swelling, but they sent the family home for treatment.

“After a week of being home, she lost the ability to walk, was beginning to lose the ability to speak, and was beginning to have severe headaches when on July 19th she had an epileptic seizure and was then admitted once again to the hospital, now in intensive care,” Paula wrote. “The doctors then did another MRI and found the headaches were due to bleeding in the brain caused by the inflammation being compressed with her head.”

Reyes is now being treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Paula says she is “waiting for a miracle.”

“It’s so hard,” she said. “You never expect your kid, so young, to get this sick.”

Reyes is described as “sweet, positive and bubbly.”

“She is one of those who has a passion for school, a passion for learning,” said Taylor Williamson, a teacher at the school where Reyes attends. “I just hope that we get a chance to see her potential get realized.”

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images


Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.