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Our prayers go out to the family of Jordyn Franklin during this difficult time. The 11-year-old died unexpectedly after contracting COVID-19. Jordyn’s aunt Kristen Clark told West Memphis news station WMC that her niece felt sick last week before heading into a scheduled doctor’s appointment.
Franklin’s condition quickly worsened minutes before the family could make it to the visit. Clark said they tried to call an ambulance for Jordyn, however, the young girl passed away just before they made it to the hospital.
Clark wants people to understand the severity that COVID-19 has had on their family, and as the rise of the Delta Variant continues to surge throughout the U.S., the pandemic is certainly far from over.
“We want Jordyn’s story to go as far as it possibly can to realize and to know that this is a real thing and you don’t know until it hits home,” she stressed.
A candlelight vigil was held in Jordyn’s honor last week at Jackson-Wonder Elementary where she attended school.
Jordyn’s uncle Brandon Clark has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for funeral costs and medical bills. Her uncle described her as a “straight A+ student who loved school, her brother (especially), and her mom and dad.” The family has since surpassed their original goal of $1000 after receiving over $9,000 in donations as of Aug. 16.
On July 21, the CDC officially announced that youths between the ages of 12-18 could receive the vaccine, but vaccination rates among the group remain low. According to the Department of Health, “nineteen percent of those aged 12-18 are fully vaccinated, up from 14.9 percent on July 21″, ABC7 noted.
