Kentucky Teen Who Survived Cancer Last Year Dies Of COVID-19

A Kentucky teenager who survived cancer last year died from COVID-19 in mid-November. Hers is said to be the first coronavirus-related death of a school-aged child in the Commonwealth.

It was only in 2019 when 15-year-old Alexa Rose Veit of Ballard County, Kentucky was diagnosed with Leukemia. Although it was not an easy battle, the young girl born with special needs "fought a hard and enduring fight," Ballard County Emergency Management Director Travis Holder said in a statement. In the same year, Veit was considered to be in remission.

Unfortunately, she fought another battle this year. This time, it was against COVID-19. She passed away in November.

According to the statement, Veit was not feeling well on Oct. 26 and by the next day, while waiting for her COVID-19 test results, her mother also began to feel unwell. Both of them tested positive for the virus, with her mother having to be placed on a ventilator.

At that time, Veit's symptoms were rather mild but her condition worsened in the days that followed and she eventually developed pneumonia. She was then flown to Nashville where she was cared for by her sister, who had also just recovered from COVID-19. At this time, their mother was still in the hospital.

On Nov. 14, her mother was flown to Nashville. It was after doctors determined that they had done "all that they could do for Alexa," as the statement explained. Veit passed away the next day.

Her death, Holder said, is the second COVID-19 related death in Ballard County and the first death of a school-aged child in the Commonwealth.

"Our world is a little less bright today without Alexa in it, and she will be missed always," Ballard Memorial High School said in a Facebook post.

In his statement, Holder said that the story has "touched" his heart, and called Veit a fighter. He also called on Ballard County residents to take the virus seriously and take precautions to protect each other.

"Alexa was 15 years old, granted she did have pre-existing health conditions, but she was 15 years old. I am telling you this because we have got to come to the realization that this is real," Holder said. "There is not anything that we can do to get rid of COVID-19, but it is our duty as Citizens to do everything that we can to reduce the spread to our fellow man."

As of Monday, Kentucky has logged over 162,000 total COVID-19 cases, over 134,000 of which have been confirmed, the Kentucky Public Health's COVID-19 Daily Summary reported. There have so far been 1,764 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the state.