Missouri nurse posts shocking pics of blood spray on hospital wall as son, 13, dies after coughing fit from Covid
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: Almost a year into the global pandemic, and many people around the world are still refusing to take it seriously. Stephanie Franek, 44, a nurse from Missouri, has resorted to extreme measures in order to get people to start taking Covid-19 seriously, sharing a graphic photo of the blood spray from her son's cough. Franek's son, Peyton Baumgarth, 13, died on October 31 from a coughing fit six days after showing Covid symptoms.
Peyton Baumgarth was particularly vulnerable to the virus, as a child with asthma and thyroid problems. His mother had taken him to the hospital just two days before his death when his condition deteriorated. According to the Sun, Peyton's nail beds had turned blue, and he was having trouble speaking. He was taken to the ICU at the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St Louis, and died after a severe coughing fit when the doctors were unable to increase his blood oxygen levels.
The pictures she's shared with the Sun show a spray of blood covering a hospital wall — the blood that had pooled in Peyton's chest sprayed over the walls and the surgeons working to save him. "It was all over the cardiothoracic surgeon and he just kept working," Franek said.
Franek's sister — also a nurse — died after suffering from Covid-19 a mere six weeks later on December 7 after being given ECMO and put on a ventilator. Franek chose to share her story in the hopes of getting more Americans to take the virus seriously, and take preventative measures. "I hope people will take Covid more seriously and not say it is a political agenda or some type of fakes news or that it is the same as the flu," she said. "We were so very careful. If we ever went anywhere, we always wore masks and we always washed our hands and used hand sanitizer and we still got Covid. Our hearts go out to all the healthcare providers who are battling this on the front lines everyday."
Stephanie Franek tested positive for the coronavirus on October 25. Both she and her son began to experience mild symptoms, and self-quarantined. "His symptoms didn't seem life-threatening and we didn't do a whole lot other than watch Netflix movies," she said. However, when his condition began to deteriorate, she decided it was time to take him to the hospital, where she was shocked to discover his blood oxygen levels had fallen to 44 percent — far below the healthy human average of 95 to 100 percent. "As a nurse, I have never seen someone walking and talking with an oxygen saturation level of just 44 percent," she said.
Her son's condition took a turn for the worse on October 31. "He had this big coughing fit and he basically started to hemorrhage in his chest," she said. "The surgeons were trying to replace the ECMO and they were doing CPR to help circulate his blood because his pulse was so weak and his oxygen levels were so low." Her son's death came as a major shock to her. "Never did I ever think this was going to happen,” she said. "You don't hear about kids getting Covid and it being that serious. I was just in shock. I can't describe that sudden devastating loss."