15-year-old girl in Maryland dies from 'inflammatory syndrome’ linked to coronavirus

Dar'yana Dyson was the first child to die from COVID-19 complications in the state of Maryland.

A 15-year-old girl in Maryland has died after contracting COVID-19, marking what officials called the first death in Baltimore County from the pediatric inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus.

The girl “had symptoms of an inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 infection that has been documented in children in New York and other locations,” officials said in a statement Tuesday.

The teen was identified by her mother as Dar’yana Dyson, a student at Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County who would have turned 16 next month, local station WBAL-TV reported.

“It happened so fast. I never thought that taking my daughter to the hospital for a stomach pain that I wouldn't be walking out of there with her,” Dyson’s mom Kandace Knight said.

Knight said she took her daughter to the hospital on May 11 with symptoms including fever, stomach pains and a loss of appetite.

The girl also developed an extensive rash.

"It was through her whole body, through her feet, her hands, her back and then it just disappeared. We never seen the rash again,” Knight said.

The grieving mom told the station her daughter initially tested negative for coronavirus, but then doctors tested her for the antibodies.

"They took her back to an isolated room and said that she had tested positive for the antibodies of corona,” she said. “They said that somehow or another, she got both the coronavirus and the children’s one.”

The teen was placed on a ventilator. On Saturday, less than a week after she was admitted to the hospital, she died.

“She was too good for this world. She was so beautiful. She was too good for this world,” Knight said.

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that some previously healthy children who tested positive for current or recent coronavirus infection were getting sick with a “multisystem inflammatory syndrome” with “Kawasaki disease-like features.”

Eight cases, including one death, were reported in the UK. In New York City, 15 patients between the ages of 2 and 15 were hospitalized with the syndrome between mid-April and May 4, officials said.

As of May 12, the New York State Department of Health identified 102 patients, including patients from New York City, with similar presentations.

Knight said she wanted to share her daughter’s story to hopefully help others.

“I hope that this can save another child. People need to really understand that this kills people. This hurts people – this hurts people in ways that they'll never be able to come back from,” Knight told WBAL.

“Any loss of life from this virus is tragic, but the loss of a child is devastating. Our prayers are with the family and loved ones of this young person,” Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said in a statement.

“This is a stark reminder that this virus spares no one, and that we all must remain vigilant in our efforts to stay home, socially distance, and limit the spread of this deadly disease,” he said.