The Tragic Case of Julia Chavez: Teen rushed to ER with headache dies hours later of undiagnosed cancer
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: A Georgia teenager tragically died after she was taken to ER with headaches and an ear infection. On Monday, February 13, the family of Julia Chavez, 13, was devastated after receiving the news in the early morning hours. Julia's father, Dennis Lee Chavez, wrote on social media, “She had bleeding in her brain, lungs, stomach... everywhere,”
Julia who was also known as JuJu by her family, suddenly collapsed after going to an Augusta urgent care for antibiotics on Sunday. She was immediately rushed to hospital where blood work and a CT scan showed her cancer diagnosis. Around 12 hours later at around 1 am, she died.
READ MORE
Man engaged to RAGDOLL announces fiancee is pregnant with their THIRD child
Heartbroken father shares tribute
"My 13 year old baby girl was admitted to the hospital on Sunday," Julia's father, Dennis Chavez wrote in a grieving Facebook post. "That's where we found out she had leukemia. It came on so hard and so fast. Doctors told us there was no way we could have known." According to Augusta Chronicle, Julia did not show any signs of warning apart from getting bruised easily and tired, which her family previously claimed that it was a result of her being a tomboy.
Her father said that he was never worried about her bruises due to her young age. "When she would get a bruise, we would ask how she got it, and she would say, "'I don't know,' and shrug it off," Dennis told the news outlet. "We thought that it was because she's got a bit of tomboy in her."
Julia was 'bubbly, bright and beautiful'
The teenager's mother, Jenna Randall who remembered her late child as being "bubbly, bright and beautiful," was heartbroken to learn about Julia's diagnosis. "We never knew she had it," Jenna told the news outlet. "She never had more than a sniffle and she's never been hospitalized for anything since she was born."
Jenna published an urgent Facebook post and pleaded everyone to pray for her unconscious daughter's recovery following her hospitalization. "We have more questions than answers right now," Jenna wrote at the time. The family says that their life would never be the same after the unfortunate incident. Julia's older brother, Jackson said that his sister meant "his world" to him.
"I know she's my sister, but she's my world," Jackson Chavez told his mom after Julia died. Their grandfather Ernie Randall said that the siblings were inseperable. "They were tied together at the hip," Ernie recalled to the news outlet. "I remember a few years ago, I took Jackson to a car show and the whole time we were there, he couldn't have any fun because Julia wasn't with us."
He added, "It's going take him a long time to get used to." He described his granddaughter as being 'wild' and 'perfect.' "My granddaughter was the best little girl," he said. "God says that nobody is perfect, but I'd put a test to that one by her being perfect."
Julia was a 7th grade student at Harlem Middle School. The teenager was specially fond of Japanese culture and dreamt of becoming an artist. "She wanted to learn everything she could about it. She was like an encyclopedia," Jenna said. "We bought her a kimono because she always wanted one. She loved Japanese culture and wanted to visit one day."