7-year-old boy recovers after life-threatening battle with MIS-C

Click here for updates on this story

    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — An Omaha boy is out of the hospital after being on life support for eight days while battling multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), a rare, life-threatening condition some kids develop after getting COVID-19.

Seven-year-old Aydien Weil describes what he remembers during his time at Omaha Children’s Hospital: “Not feeling good.”

Aydien and his family all got the coronavirus at the end of November and beginning of December. His parents, Keegan and Destinee, showed symptoms but the four kids were all asymptomatic.

The family recovered weeks later and thought all was fine until Aydien developed a fever in January.

Destinee Weil said they took Aydien to the doctor, who told them there was a chance he could have COVID-19 again and that it was best to isolate him. When his conditions worsened, they called an ambulance and Aydien was rushed to the hospital.

Weil said Aydien stayed at Nebraska Medicine for three days. When he returned home, he was still lethargic, and the fever came back.

“He laid his head on me and I literally felt his skin burn my arm underneath my shirt. He was that hot,” she said. “So I checked him and he was 105.3 [degrees].”

Weil said her son was then rushed to Omaha Children’s Hospital where he spent eight days on life support. That’s where he was diagnosed with MIS-C.

“I lost it a lot. I cried a lot,” the mother said.

Weil said Aydien’s heart was once operation at 34%. He had a rash all over his body, needed blood transfusions and was on a ventilator.

“Aydien was one of the very few that’s ever been on a ventilator for it, at least here in Nebraska from my understanding,” she said.

Aydien was discharged Saturday but still doesn’t feel like his normal self.

“It’s like two opposite kids,” said his dad, Keegan Weil.

The condition caused two brain abnormalities and two heart murmurs that could require open-heart surgery.

“He fought a crazy battle and every doctor and every nurse in there was like, ‘Aydien, you’re a warrior,'” said Weil.

It could take six months to a year for Aydien to recover. He’ll need occupational and physical therapy to help him learn regular movements again.

“I can’t get up all by myself,” explained Aydien.

The Wiels want to warn other families about the effects of COVID-19 even if your child recovers from the virus.

“It does affect them. This doesn’t happen very often to very many kids, but it could be your kid,” said Wiel.

According to the Omaha Children’s Hospital, doctors are seeing more severe cases of MIS-C now than they did at the start of the pandemic. Early on, the hospital saw one to two cases a month. In December and January, each month had 10 cases.

“Many of these patients need pediatric intensive care that we offer, and multiple specialists are frequently involved in care,” wrote a spokesperson.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.