1-year-old Minnesota boy dies after RSV infection
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Respiratory viruses are back with a vengeance. Tragically, the health department is reporting Minnesota's first RSV death of the season.
It hits older folks and young kids the hardest. The number of people going to the hospital for RSV is rising rapidly.
Inside the Parker-Roberts household in Brooklyn Park, pictures fill the room.
"I got the pictures to make myself comfortable with coming home and not seeing him," said Shacorra Parker. "My baby coat is upstairs and hanging on top of the door, he never will put the coat on again."
Mas'Aki Roberts Jr. loved paw patrol, and singing with his dad, Mas'Aki Roberts Sr.
"I used to sing him a song, "da da loves you, da da loves you, yes he does, and he'd sing along with me," Roberts Sr. said.
They say both of their children were diagnosed with COVID-19 and RSV on Thanksgiving Day. Both kids went to hospital, got some medicine, and went back home.
That's when things took a tragic turn. Parker returned home from work and found her baby boy unresponsive and blue.
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"Why didn't no one tell me that RSV can take your child's life," Parker said holding back tears. "They (doctors) told me that he was a healthy baby, nothing was wrong with him. He just stopped breathing."
A life cut short just months after celebrating his 1st birthday.
"I don't have that opportunity to see my baby get older or go to prom," she said.
Instead, all they have are photos and memories. It's these moments that they say that get them through the dark days ahead.
The family is now preparing for Mas'Aki Jr.'s homegoing which will take place next week.
The CDC recommends pregnant mothers get the RSV vaccine. Babies up to 6 months can as well.
For COVID-19, babies need to be at least 6 months old to get a shot.