Girl, 6, survived dangerous journey to US. She now is Florida's youngest coronavirus victim.

Described as a loving and caring daughter, Astrid Reyes, 6, started feeling ill on Aug. 16. Three days later she passed away from COVID-19.

TAMPA — Astrid Reyes was a brave girl when her mother brought her to the United States a year ago to escape poverty and violence in Honduras.

The journey took a month. Both mother and daughter evaded the dangers immigrants face in their quest to reach the United States and apply for asylum. They endured inclement weather and the stalking of criminals, slept in the open and went hungry until they reached the Mexican city of Reynosa, in the state of Tamaulipas. From there, they crossed the Rio Grande to Texas.

Of the group of 30 immigrants who tried crossing, only Astrid and her mother, Suny Galindo, weren’t intercepted by border patrol agents.

Astrid never complained. She never shed a tear. She was 6 years old.

“She was a very intelligent and mature girl for her age,” says Galindo, 24. “She was my only daughter and she told me: Mom, I will always be here to take care of you.”

On Aug. 19, Astrid died in the emergency room of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, three days after she was admitted unresponsive and with seizure activity.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/09/01/girl-6-survived-dangerous-journey-to-us-she-now-is-floridas-youngest-coronavirus-victim/