LAS VEGAS, NV (KLAS) — As many young people have been seen taking fewer precautions to prevent COVID-19, one Las Vegas teenager shared her harrowing experience.
“I never thought it would happen to me,” Kaydee Asher said. “Until it did.”
Sixteen-year-old Asher has truly been to hell and back since she was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 22. She and her family shared that she’s been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit twice, where she’s received a myriad of medications and breathing treatments.
“There are times where I was like I don’t know if my body can get through this,” Asher added of the experience.
“In the ICU it was like taking two minutes to sit up in the hospital,” she explained. “For them to fix something, give me medicine, or just to go to the bathroom.”
Some may argue the scariest part of her scenario; this isn’t exactly a normal occurrence. Data from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 patients between 5 and 17 years old is 0.1 in 100,000.
“You can be very healthy like me and never get the flu and never be sick,” Asher said. “And still struggle during this time.”
Even though she’s been extremely careful, the virus still hit her hard. Now, she hopes her voice will help others stop and think so they don’t suffer from the same, agonizing experience.
“There’s so much going on in the world right now, but this isn’t something we can just forget is happening,” Asher concluded. “It’s real and it’s painful and it’s something that I don’t want anyone to go through.”
Asher told 8 News Now she was the first COVID-19 positive patient in Saint Rose Hospital’s pediatric unit to be admitted to the ICU for her severe symptoms.
She was back home on Wednesday, but said doctors told her it could be up to six weeks before she starts to feel normal again.
- Texas A&M University researchers have identified a new COVID-19 variant that originated in the state.
- As of April 20, 25.4% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated. Over three million people in the state have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose.
- As Virginia enters Phase 2 of the vaccination process, some health leaders say the demographic of who is being hospitalized with COVID-19 is shifting.
- Across the nation every American adult is now eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, and challenges exist ahead to reach herd immunity.
- The State Department on Monday urged Americans reconsider any international travel they may have planned and said it would issue specific warnings not to visit roughly 80% of the world's countries due to risks from the coronavirus pandemic.
- Virginians over the age of 16 are now able to book their appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine without waiting on an invitation from the health department.
- What does your body do when you get a vaccine? Your immune system responds to the foreign molecules that make up any vaccine via two different systems.
- The New Kent County COVID-19 vaccine clinic is closing in May. The clinic, located at New Kent High School, has been open for more than three months.
- Virginia is getting 77,983 COVID-19 vaccine doses into arms each day on average. According to the state’s health department, more than 5.3 million doses have been administered in Virginia.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, hinted that there could soon be changes to the COVID-19 health policy on face masks.
