Jayden Keyshawn Parrish was excited to begin his freshman year at Statesboro High School in Statesboro, Georgia. On Aug. 27, Parrish felt sick after coming home from football conditioning and practice, according to WSAV.
Parrish developed a fever and chills the next day and eventually began vomiting before his mother decided to take him to the emergency room.
However, the staff at East Georgia Regional Medical Center would not give him a COVID-19 test because they did not plan on admitting him into the hospital. Parrish was eventually sent home with medication.
Parrish’s mother believed her son was showing signs of COVID-19 and called several testing sites with the hopes of scheduling an appointment. After several testing locations told her that the next available test would be days away, she finally found a testing site in Millen, Georgia which is 30 miles away from Statesboro.
While waiting for test results, Parrish began experiencing shortness of breath and returned to the ER at East Georgia Regional Medical Center on Sept. 1. He was eventually given a rapid COVID-19 test and tested negative before being transferred to Memorial Medical Center in Savannah. While in the ambulance, he was given another COVID-19 test which came back positive.
He was eventually diagnosed with Myocarditis, an illness that attacks the immune and respiratory system, an enlargement of the heart, irregular heart rate, low blood pressure, and damage to the liver.
At press time, Parrish has spent nine days at Memorial Medical Center.
At least 40 members of his high school football team are in quarantine. High school football teams in Georgia will take the field in the upcoming weeks.
