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Minka Aisha Greene, of Capitol Heights, had never been seriously ill before, her mom, Kymesha Greene White told Daily Voice in a phone call Tuesday, March 11. So when Minka stopped eating and playing outside in late January, Greene White knew something was seriously wrong.
“She was never one of those kids who had a cold or anything,” Greene White said. “So when I noticed she wasn’t eating or asking to go outside, I was like, ‘Okay, this is serious.’”
She took Minka to the emergency room, where doctors diagnosed her with the flu, prescribed ibuprofen, and told her to rest. But days later, Minka’s symptoms worsened.
According to her mother, Minka complained of a headache and eye pain so severe that she couldn’t open them.
Concerned, her mother took her back to the ER, where doctors gave her an IV, reassured her it was still just the flu, and sent her home again.
Days later, Greene White said Minka’s condition spiraled, and on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 6, she found her daughter's sheets pulled off her bed. Minka had vomited, so her mom put her in the bath and gave her more medicine, she said.
Minka Greene
Then, while she was in the tub, Minka said she needed to throw up again, but couldn't lift her body or feel her lower extremities, her mother recalled.
Her father rushed home, scooped Minka into his arms, and carried her to the ambulance.
On the way to the hospital, Minka's symptoms took a terrifying turn. One of her eyes shut completely, the other rolled back, and her tongue flicked uncontrollably, her mother said. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Minka had stopped breathing, her mother recalled.
Doctors performed CPR for 10 to 12 minutes before rushing her to the ICU, but the damage was irreversible, Greene White remembered. Her daughter had no brain activity.
The girl's parents later were forced to make the painful decision to take her off life support.
Greene White said they are still waiting for an autopsy to determine the exact cause and manner of death, though her death certificate lists it as "flu and swelling of the brain."
"She never really got sick her whole 10 years," she continued. "This was the first time she has gotten sick."
Now, Minka’s mother is urging other parents not to accept dismissive diagnoses when their child is sick.
“They didn’t further check her,” Greene White said. “Pressure the doctors to check the child further. Do an MRI, a chest X-ray—make sure it’s not something more instead of just sending them home.”
Minka never had a fever—her body temperature remained around 96 or 97 degrees—which her mother believes may have contributed to doctors underestimating her illness.
“She was saying she couldn’t open her eyes,” Greene White said. “I feel like more could have been done earlier.”
While Minka had not received the flu vaccine, her mother isn’t sure it would have made a difference in this case.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with the flu shot,” she said. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do going forward.”
Dr. Daniel Rauch, a pediatric physician at Hackensack Meridian Health's Hackensack University Medical Center, previously said:
"Vaccines are the single greatest public health intervention in the history of medicine. Tens of millions of people are alive because of vaccines, and people should not be afraid of getting vaccines."
Rach said that it's impossible to get the flu from the vaccine.
"All vaccines work by promoting your own immune system to have a response, which is what you may feel when you get the vaccine — it's just your body reacting and you will be protected from bad outcomes, namely hospitalization and death."
Minka’s sudden death has left her family and community in shock. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help cover funeral and medical expenses.
“No parent should have to endure losing a child and then face the stress of planning a funeral alone,” wrote fundraiser organizer Emilee Martin.
Minka’s loved ones remember her as a sweet, kind, and sassy girl who brightened every room she walked into.
Her family is now left with heartbreak—and questions.
The GoFundMe can be found here.
"This was a sudden and tragic event; unfortunately, they now have to plan a funeral for their daughter," organizers wrote. "We are starting this GoFundMe to help raise funds for the arrangements as well as the acquired medical expenses and lost time at their employers."
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