Parents grieve loss of 3-month-old son to COVID-19

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (KCRA) – As the first cases of the omicron variant are confirmed in the United States, Tyler Redondo and his wife Angelina are still grieving the death of their 3-month-old son.

Tyler Redondo Jr. died from COVID in February.

“Protect those babies because they can’t get vaccinated,” Angelina said through tears. “I don’t know how many times doctors told me, ‘Don’t worry, your baby won’t be affected by COVID,’ but he was, unfortunately.”

Tyler would’ve had his first birthday in October. Now, his parents are asking others to check on their youngest ones – especially newborns.

“They can’t talk. They can’t fight for themselves. They can’t tell you what’s wrong,” Tyler said. “My baby let out a distinct cry at the end of it and that was him letting us know that was him giving up.”

As vaccinations for 5–11-year-olds are still being encouraged, health officials remind parents who are still hesitating that COVID and the variants don’t discriminate.

“Just because you’re younger or don’t have any underlying conditions, that doesn’t mean you’re always going to have mild symptoms,” said Dr. Dean Blumberg, a pediatric infectious disease expert from UC Davis Health. “Anybody can have a severe infection of COVID, and deaths have occurred at every age.”

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