Disabled girl, 17, dies of Covid despite terrified family’s attempts to shield her from it

A disabled teenager has died of coronavirus despite the best attempts of her terrified family to protect her from catching the disease. Charlee Swearingen, 17, died in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, around two months after she was first diagnosed with the condition.

Charlee lived with a rare genetic condition called Rett Syndrome, that left her more vulnerable to complications from Covid. Her dad Kevin was worried about Charlee’s health as soon as coronavirus began to spread across the United States in spring.

The youngster’s family took every precaution they could to try and keep Charlee safe from the virus, but she contracted it earlier this fall. She was rushed to hospital after her oxygen levels dropped and she began to suffer seizures.

Charlee was transferred from her local hospital in Lumberton to Texas Children’s Hospital, and was put on a ventilator. She appeared to be making some progress in recovering from coronavirus, with Kevin sharing hopeful updates about Charlee up until the day before her death.

But the youngster’s condition deteriorated shortly after she was taken off her ventilator, and she died shortly afterwards.

Paying tribute to Charlee, Kevin said: ‘Dear Heavenly Father (I) come to you to ask you to take good care of my Charlee Choo!

‘Make sure that she has no more struggles. Make sure that she can walk and she can talk. I come to you and ask that you give her a mansion in the sky as you have promised.’

Before his daughter’s death, Kevin urged others to take the virus seriously, and told of how one of his friends lost his hands and feet to Covid aged just 45, before the virus ultimately killed that pal too.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk

For more stories like this, check our news page