6-Year-Old Tennessee Girl's Lung Partially Collapses Due To Rare COVID-19-Linked Syndrome

A 6-year-old girl is in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a Tennessee hospital and in dire need of blood platelets after developing a rare syndrome linked to COVID-19.

Hattie Shell contracted COVID-19 about eight weeks ago but was initially asymptomatic. However, in August, the child started showing cold-like symptoms, which prompted her parents to bring her to a doctor for consultation.

After a few hospital visits, the girl ended up being critical in the ICU at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. She was diagnosed with the multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a rare COVID-19 complication in children, according to Commercial Appeal.

Following a few days of treatment, the girl was taken off the ventilator and moved to a regular room for additional therapy. Earlier this week, however, one of her lungs partially collapsed and she was moved back to ICU. The girl was put on a ventilator again to maintain her oxygen levels.

Dr. Sandra Arnold, head of the hospital's pediatric infectious diseases, told Commercial Appeal that children usually develop the syndrome about four weeks after contracting COVID-19.

"The case definition includes having fever for a few days, lots of inflammation," she explained. "We see a lot of rashes, red eyes, lung involvement, gastrointestinal involvement, brain involvement and the big scary ones are the heart and the lung involvement."

Garrett Best, a minister at Oliver Creek Church of Christ in Arlington where the girl's family attends, told the outlet, "These are one of those crazy COVID-19 stories you hear about on the news but it doesn't feel real. Then it's hit a real girl that we know in our church and it's just hard to believe it's real."

The girl's parents are now using social media to ask people to donate blood and platelets at any Vitalant blood bank location.

"Hattie's blood type makes her a universal donor, but she is a hard type to match, and the city is running low on platelets. If we could be so bold, we beg any of you who are able to please go donate blood and/or platelets as soon as possible," Kady Shell wrote in a Facebook post.

A GoFundMe page has also been launched to help the family raise funds for the child's treatment. As of Friday, it has already collected $18,000 of its $20,000 goal.

COVID-19 crisis continues to affect the United States, with more than 160,000 cases being reported over the last two days. Amid the surge, several states in the country are facing a shortage of hospital beds. Numerous hospitals also struggle with oxygen scarcity. Some of these facilities are now on the verge of having to utilize their reserve supply.