After losing infant son to COVID-19, a Rancho Cordova couple’s cautionary tale for other parents
By Maricela De La Cruz
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RANCHO CORDOVA, California (KCRA) — Tyler and Angelina Redondo say they lost their infant son in February from complications caused by COVID-19. All that’s left now are the ashes of 3-month-old Tyler Redondo, sitting in a box.
The parents now wish that what happened to them doesn’t happen to other families.
“Be careful who touches your baby. It can just start with a little kiss even with somebody that you know — they were exposed and they’re not showing symptoms,” Angelina said through tears.
Tyler said although their home isn’t entirely broken, they’ve experienced heartbreak due to the virus.
He wants other parents to take steps to protect their babies from COVID-19 as they cannot receive a vaccine.
“I don’t know how many times doctors told me ‘Don’t worry. Your baby won’t be affected by COVID,’ but he was unfortunately,” added Angelina.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 6.9 million children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. With winter just weeks away, health officials say variants like omicron could potentially spread faster.
“We already are expecting a winter surge even in the absence of the omicron variant and that’s because the coronaviruses are facilitated by the temperature and the humidity in the winter, so the transmission is facilitated,” said Dr. Dean Blumberg, a pediatric infectious disease expert from UC Davis Health.
As the young couple keeps grieving the loss of their son, they want other parents to be more cautious.
“Our doctor said that he was healthy and it [COVID] didn’t build his system, it destroyed his system,” Tyler.
Serious cases of COVID-19 are still much less common for the younger age groups. According to state health officials, 0.1% of deaths statewide have been in children under 17. That age group represents 22% of the state population. More than 70% of COVID-related deaths in California have been in people over the age of 65.
Vaccinations for 5 to 11-year-olds in California are at 2% out of the 9.3% who are eligible for vaccination.
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