‘Healthy’ boy, 13, nearly dies after his body goes into toxic shock fighting coronavirus

A ‘HEALTHY’ 13-year-old boy nearly died after his body went into toxic shock trying to fight coronavirus.

George Mitchell had to fight for his life after contracting the deadly bug – with his family fearing the worst.

Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

Mum Andrea Mitchell, 36, today revealed how she was told the outlook was “bleak” after he first started to show symptoms two weeks ago.

After first showing a high temperature, doctors then found the teen had dangerously low blood pressure after he was rushed to Barnsley General.

Speaking to Examiner Live, she said: “I had a chat with the doctor and they said his heart and lungs were not working properly and that they were going to have to ventilate him.

“His body had gone into toxic shock trying to kill the virus and he had developed bacterial sepsis because his immune system was trying to attack the COVID-19.

“The outlook was bleak because his organs were failing so if he didn’t respond to the treatment, the likelihood was that he was going to die and that likelihood at the time was high because of how his heart was beating and how his lungs were operating.”

Doctors treated George with antibiotics – with the teen thankfully starting to show signs of recovery.

He has since been released from hospital but will continue to need constant check ups.

It comes as the UK coronavirus death toll has continued to climb to more than 34,000.

And England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam warned the country will only “be out of this” once a vaccine has been found – and that Covid-19 may return again in autumn and winter.

Speaking during last night’s coronavirus briefing, Prof Van-Tam said it would take a vaccine “really capable of suppressing disease levels” for the country to be “out of this”.

He added: “So from that perspective we may have to live, and learn to live, with this virus in the long-term, certainly for many months to come if not several years.”