A Lauderhill family is in mourning after losing two children to the novel coronavirus just days apart.
Over the span of 11 days, both Byron and Mychaela Francis battled with the virus before tragically passing away.
“Having to plan two funerals is really hard,” Montete Hicks, mother of Byron and Mychaela, said.
On June 27th, Hicks says her 20-year-old son, Byron, had trouble breathing.
“I came to check on him. He was in the living room on the floor sitting up. He was sleeping, but he was breathing very poorly,” Hicks said.
Byron was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
A week later, while mourning the loss of Byron, Mychaela went to the hospital after she began having headaches and fevers.
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"As the days went by, while she was [at the hospital], everything just went to breaking down in her body,” Hicks said.
Mychaela needed oxygen, her blood pressure dropped and she eventually lost a kidney.
She passed away this past Wednesday.
Both Byron and Mychaela’s deaths are part of a larger recent trend in Florida – with younger people in the state contracting COVID at a higher rate.
On Thursday, Broward County’s medical examiner’s office confirmed that an 11-year old girl had died of coronavirus – the youngest death in the state.
Records showed the child had other medical conditions such as heart disease, epilepsy, cerebral palsy and asthma.
Byron and Mychaela had underlying health conditions as well.
Montete says she has four other children she's hoping to protect from the virus. She wants everyone to stay safe.
“Wear y’all masks. Be careful. Be safe out there. Take it seriously," Hicks said.
