‘I died and came back’: 12-year-old recovers from virus – RiverBender.com

Juliet Daly, 12, sits with her parents on the front porch of their family home in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Juliet Daly, 12, plays with her brother Dominic, 5, in their family home in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Juliet Daly, 12, plays with her brother Dominic, 5, in their family home in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Jennifer Daly sits on her front porch as she sheds a tear recounting the ordeal of almost losing her daughter 12 year old daughter Juliet to the coronavirus, in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Juliet Daly, 12, rides her bike outside her home in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Juliet Daly, 12, sits with her father Sean Daly on the front porch of their family home in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Juliet Daly, 12, sits with her mother Jennifer Daly, as she recounts the ordeal of almost losing Juliet, on the front porch of their family home in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Juliet Daly, 12, leans on her mother Jennifer Daly on their front porch, as Jennifer recounts the ordeal of almost losing Juliet to the coronavirus, in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Jennifer Daly sits on her front porch as she recounts the ordeal of almost losing her daughter 12 year old daughter Juliet to the coronavirus, in Covington, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

Jake Kleinmahon, a pediatric cardiologist at Ochsner Medical Center discusses the medical care for patient Juliet Daly, 12, who almost died from the coronavirus, in Jefferson Parish, La., Thursday, April 30, 2020. A team of pediatric cardiology specialists found that Juliet had acute fulminant myocarditis (AFM)

COVINGTON, La. (AP) As her desperately sick daughter was being airlifted to a hospital, Jennifer Daly was thinking about all the parts of life that still lay ahead for her 12-year-old and whether shed ever experience them: Would she get to fall in love? Would she get the chance to get married and have her own children?

Driving across the causeway that separates the familys home north of Lake Pontchartrain from the New Orleans hospital where their daughter was taken with what was later determined to be a coronavirus infection she was forced to imagine a life without her Juliet.

Shes the sweetest girl. Shes the sweetest girl in the whole world. And she does not deserve this. And I was praying to God ... just please, please help, please help me, said Jennifer, speaking from the familys Covington home Thursday, with her husband Sean and their now-recovered daughter.

As Juliet and her 5-year-old brother spar with each other using pool noodles, its hard to imagine that just last month Juliet was fighting for her life. At one point she had a heart attack and doctors had to perform CPR for two minutes before she came back.

I died and came back, Juliet said.

Her coronavirus journey didnt start with many of the symptoms that have affected adults breathing problems, for example. She had stomach pain and vomiting, and her mother, whos a radiologist, thought maybe it was appendicitis or some type of stomach problem. But Juliet's lips were also turning blue and her limbs were cold.

Juliet quickly ended up in the emergency room of the local hospital. There, she had a heart attack, underwent CPR, and was eventually airlifted to Ochsner Medical Center. Dr. Jake Kleinmahon was one of the doctors who was there to meet her and care for her over the next ten days.

Juliet came in as one of the sickest children weve taken care of with COVID-19, said Kleinmahon. The top chamber of her heart was not working correctly with the bottom chamber, and she was developing multisystem organ failure, he said.

Kleinmahon said children with coronavirus infections often have different symptoms than adults, such as the abdominal problems Juliet had, or rashes in other cases. He said many children also have another virus besides the coronavirus and that was the case with Juliet.

For most people, the virus causes no, mild or moderate symptoms, but some suffer severe disease and even death.

Juliet was on a ventilator for four days, during which she was sedated and then was eventually able to breathe on her own. She was discharged on April 15. The doctor said her heart function is now completely normal. Although she likely has a little trauma to her heart that should decrease over time, he expects shell have a totally normal life.

When she regained consciousness, her parents said she immediately worried about missing school. Her mother said that when she told Juliet what had happened, her eyes got as big as saucers.

At first I was freaking out a lot, Juliet said. And then she was worried about whether there were any lasting effects to her body.

Jennifer said she and her husband hadnt known anyone whod even been infected with coronavirus until their daughter became so drastically ill. If they hadnt gotten her to the hospital in time, they dont know if shed be alive today. Shes glad Juliet doesnt remember those four days on a ventilator days Jennifer will never forget.

All she remembers is daddy telling her shes going to go to sleep. Theyre going to put a tube down your throat. Youre gonna go on a helicopter ride. Youre gonna wake up in a new hospital and mommy will be there said Jennifer. Well, thats what happened.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

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This story has corrected the time element in the fourth paragraph to last month instead of this month.

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'I died and came back': 12-year-old recovers from virus - RiverBender.com