10-Year-Old Texas Boy Dies After Battling COVID Complications, Including Gangrene in His Legs

A 10-year-old boy in Texas has died following a weeks-long battle with a variety of COVID-19 complications, including the development of gangrene in his legs.

Zyrin Foots died on Wednesday afternoon after his mother made the heartbreaking choice to remove him from life support, his aunt Ashley Engmann told local news outlet KTRK-TV.

Since being admitted to the hospital on Sept. 30 for COVID-19, Zyrin was also diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and multisystem inflammatory syndrome — known as MIS-C when found in children — Engmann said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MIS-C is condition where different body parts can become inflamed and it's been found that "many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19, or had been around someone with COVID-19."

The complication made it hard for Zyrin's heart to pump blood to his limbs and the child "developed gangrene in the legs" as a result, Engmann told KTRK-TV, forcing the family to make a difficult decision.

"They gave my sister a choice: to amputate his legs and arms, or let him go," she said. "Without the amputation, he doesn't have any chance to live. With it, he has a 25 percent chance."

Engmann added that her sister chose to take Zyrin off life support "because that's the most humane and compassionate thing she can do for her child."

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In a GoFundMe fundraiser set up to cover "final expenses" and funeral costs, Engmann said that Zyrin was her sister's eldest child. The boy is also survived by his younger brother Zaiden.

As of Thursday night, the campaign has raised more than $17,000.

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