Huntsville boy loses battle with COVID, RSV

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A 10-year-old Huntsville boy who fought COVID-19 and other complications for more than two weeks has died after his family had to make the heart-wrenching decision to remove him from life support.

Zyrin Foots died Wednesday afternoon, according to his aunt.

Foots was admitted to the hospital on Sept. 30, and his body progressively shut down as medical staff tried desperately to get him healthy again, his aunt, Ashley Engmann, said.

Engmann told on Wednesday that doctors had given her nephew’s mother two options.

“They gave my sister a choice: to amputate his legs and arms or let him go,” Engmann said at the time. “Without the amputation, he doesn’t have any chance to live. With it, he has a 25% chance.”

Foots was a student at Huntsville Intermediate School where his family believed he contracted the virus.

Engmann said doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital told them Zyrin’s case was one of the worst they’d seen.

In addition to the virus, Zyrin contracted respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, his aunt said. Zyrin also suffered from a rare but deadly COVID-19 complication known as MIS-C. Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children causes inflammation in different parts of the body, including the heart.

“Because his heart couldn’t pump blood, he developed gangrene in the legs,” Engmann said.

The family has created a GoFundMe account for funeral expenses.