SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A San Ysidro mom is mourning her 11-year-son, after doctors say he died of a rare complication from a sinus infection.
Shakyla Bell takes comfort in looking at photos of her son, Ky'reion, but at times, the grief is overwhelming.
Some three weeks ago, 11-year-old Ky'reion first complained of a headache. A few days later, the symptoms got worse.
“He said the headaches were hurting more, more like a migraine,” said Bell.
By the time he was brought to Rady Children's Hospital a week later, he had pain in his neck.
“We were in there walking and talking … and the next thing I know, he wasn't able to move his arms up,” said Bell.
Doctors told her the culprit was something that is usually not serious: a sinus infection. Ky’reion’s case was a rare exception.
“A sinus infection that seeped through his sinuses into his bloodstream, and got inside his brain,” said Bell.
Ky’reion was placed in a medically induced coma, but his condition deteriorated quickly.
“There's no worse feeling in the world than your baby falling in front of you, and you can't do nothing to protect them,” said Bell.
Ky’reion was declared brain dead, and three days after he was admitted, he passed away.
“It's unbearable. It’s traumatizing. I feel defeated. I am broken,” said Bell.
Bell says her son, a 5th grader at Juarez Lincoln Elementary, loved cooking and video games.
“He was a happy, positive, caring kid,” said Bell.
The reason she lost her son is hard to make sense of.
“Taking your kid in for a freaking headache and they die,” said a tearful Bell.
Dr. Shweta Warner, Infectious Disease Physician at Kaiser Permanente, says the bacteria that affected Ky’reion, Streptococcus intermedius, rarely causes illnesses, but when it does, it can cause an abscess in the brain and liver.
Parents are asked to seek medical care if a child has symptoms of a head infection, including severe headaches, changes in personality such as confusion or irritability, slurred speech, changes in vision like double vision, seizures, weakness on one side, or a stiff neck or back.
“Take your baby to the hospital as soon as possible … over a headache you don't want to lose your baby,” said Bell.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help the family with funeral and other expenses.
Kaiser Permanente says other tips to help prevent sinus infections include handwashing, covering up coughs and keeping up to date on vaccinations.
