Alonso Moreira on a ventilator after being hospitalized with COVID-19. | Provided CHICAGO - Rina Miller spent her days and nights caring for her son with Down syndrome.Not long after Alonso Moreira’s 12th birthday earlier this month, they both began struggling to breathe.
They had been infected with the coronavirus.Paramedics took them to Stroger Hospital, where they were placed at opposite ends of the hospital.
Miller said she pleaded in vain with doctors to transfer Alonso to a hospital better suited for his age and condition.Two days later, a doctor came to her room and told her Alonso had died."It’s too hard, and I miss my son," Miller said through tears.Since the pandemic began last year, nine children 15 years old or younger have died.