Denton Family Mourns 7-Year-Old Daughter's Death
DENTON (CBS 11 NEWS) - A Denton family is mourning the loss of a little girl who died as a result of a rare viral infection.
Mia Sandoval, 7, died Thursday from Encephalitis, a condition that causes brain swelling and seizures.
"She was our little angel, she was our baby girl," said her aunt Olga Noriega. "She was a happy little child. She had the biggest brown eyes and the biggest smile."
Her family called her a "Miracle In Action", describing the little girl as the perfect princess, always playing dress-up and dancing to her favorite Justin Beiber songs.
"She loved dressing in her little high heels and tiaras and sparkly dresses," Noriega lovingly recalled.
She was her mother Kristina's only biological child, and a joy to everyone who knew her, said family friend Pam Pittsinger.
"Be-bopping around everywhere she went," Pittsinger said, "She was one-of-a-kind."
The 7-year-old was a first grader at Lee Elementary School in Denton.
In April, she was rushed to the hospital with a high fever and seizures. The disease wasn't immediately diagnosed, but she would spend the next month and a half at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth.
The community came together to raise money for the Mia's mounting medical expenses. But the little girl lost her fight Thursday.
"It was just an emotional roller coaster ride that we were all on," Pittsinger said, "we had our good days and our bad days. This is just very devastating."
"We all prayed, and prayed, and we wanted this miracle to happen, we thought she'd come back," her aunt said, "It's like I'm waiting for her to come home and she's not."
"All that's left is memories" her grandmother, Juanita Rodriguez said in Spanish, "I loved my grandchild a lot, and I can't believe my granddaughter is gone. My Father, my God, I prayed to Him, I begged, and now I can't believe there's even more pain coming when we have to bury her."
A fund has been set up in Mia Sandoval's name at Member's Choice Federal Credit Union in Denton to help Mia's family with medical and burial expenses.
