Last Sunday (17 Jul), the Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed that a four-year-old girl had died from Covid-19-induced pneumonia.
Raisya Ufairah Mohammed Ashraff was the second child under 12 to succumb to the virus in Singapore after an 18-month-old boy passed away on 27 Jun.
Recently, the girl’s mother gave an interview to share more about the events leading up to her death.
Despite displaying Covid-19 symptoms, Raisya apparently tested negative on antigen rapid tests (ART) at first.
Sadly, things took a turn for the worse two days later when she began vomiting and foaming at the mouth. She subsequently lost consciousness and passed away in hospital.
Speaking to Berita Harian on Tuesday (19 Jul), Raisya’s mother, Ms Mardalina Mohamed Nossi, shared that her daughter started displaying Covid-19 symptoms sometime between Friday (15 Jul) and Saturday (16 Jul). These included fever and a sore throat.
The family helper had tested positive on Wednesday (13 Jul) and was self-isolating in her room. Raisya herself had negative ART results.
Source: Mardalina Mohamed Nossi via Berita Harian Singapura on Facebook
Two days later on Sunday (17 Jul), Raisya’s condition worsened. She started vomiting a lot and even foamed at the mouth when her mother tried to give her medicine.
Ms Mardalina then drove Raisya to a nearby clinic, but the girl began losing consciousness in the car.
A paramedic whom Ms Mardalina was speaking to on the phone instructed her to lay Raisya on the ground at the side of the road. A stranger passing by apparently stopped to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Shortly after, an ambulance arrived and conveyed Raisya to the hospital.
Ms Mardalina recalled paramedics telling her that they were trying to find her daughter’s pulse while they were en route to the accident and emergency (A&E) department. However, she told Berita Harian that in her heart, she felt that her child was already gone.
About two hours after they arrived at the A&E, a doctor came to confirm the mother’s deepest worry — her little girl had passed away.
With tears in her eyes, Ms Mardalina repeated what she told Raisya after learning of her death,
Raisya, Mummy accepts that you are gone forever. Go play in heaven’s playground.
According to The Straits Times (ST), MOH said that Raisya, the youngest of three children, had no medical history and was previously in good health.
She tested positive for Covid-19 via ART on the day she died. The state coroner later determined the cause of death to be pneumonia caused by Covid-19.
While most people have had no trouble recovering from Covid-19 after getting infected, this is a reminder that the disease can have devastating consequences for some.
Therefore, it’s important to not let our guard down and remember to keep practising good hygiene and safe distancing habits.
Our hearts go out to Raisya’s family during this difficult time. May she rest in peace.
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Featured image adapted from Mardalina Mohamed Nossi via Berita Harian Singapura on Facebook and Jens Müller on Unsplash, for illustration purposes.
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