‘Miss my baby.’ 10-year-old is second reported COVID child death this week in Virginia
A 10-year-old Virginia girl came home from school in late September with a headache, an early sign something was wrong.
In the days that followed, fifth grader Teresa Sperry had trouble staying awake and started coughing hard, the girl’s parents told news outlets.
“I was trying to do chest compressions,” her dad, Jeff Sperry, told WAVY. “I went in the room and she wasn’t breathing while I was on the phone.”
Teresa was rushed to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, where she died of coronavirus-related complications on Monday, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
“We left a huge piece of our hearts at CHKD,” her mom, Nicole Sperry, wrote Monday night in a Facebook post. “It hurts so much to not have her here.”
Teresa is remembered as a healthy girl who helped other children when they were sick at Hillpoint Elementary School in Suffolk, roughly 20 miles southwest of Norfolk, her mom said.
“She had such a caring heart and didn’t want to see anybody hurt and upset and wanted to make sure everybody had a friend,” Nicole Sperry told WVEC.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Suffolk Public Schools mourned the loss of Teresa and said it planned to continue wearing face masks, practicing social distancing and taking other measures shown to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Teresa’s death marks the second reported coronavirus-related loss of a child in the area this week, according to news outlets.
The death of a child under age 10 was added to the state’s coronavirus dashboard this week, Larry Hill, spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Health, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. State officials shared few details but said the case was in the eastern region of Virginia, which covers the area near Norfolk.
There have been five reported deaths of children under the age of 10 in the state throughout the pandemic. In total, 13 people ages 19 or younger have died from the virus in Virginia.
As the delta variant sparked a surge in COVID-19 cases this summer, pediatric intensive care units filled up across the nation. Currently, only children 12 or older are eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines.
Teresa’s parents told news outlets they are both vaccinated and have encouraged others to wear face masks and get their shots. Her dad, who has health conditions that put him at higher risk of getting seriously sick from COVID-19, also tested positive for the virus and “shuddered” when asked about how he was coping, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
“I don’t care,” Jeff Sperry told the newspaper. “I miss my baby.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 11:45 AM with the headline "‘Miss my baby.’ 10-year-old is second reported COVID child death this week in Virginia."
