S.C. Mom of 10 Dies from COVID a Week After Undergoing Emergency C-Section to Deliver Her Baby

Gabrielle Chung
·2 min read

GoFundMe

A woman in South Carolina has tragically died from the novel coronavirus after welcoming her 10th child.

Ashley Bennett, 36, died on Jan. 8, just a week giving birth to her youngest daughter Eliza, according to a GoFundMe campaign created in support of the family.

Bennett was also mother to children Julie, 18; Tyler, 15; Alex, 15; Bredyn, 13; Mikey, 12; Sadie, 5; Macie, 4; Mia, 2; and Logan, 1, the fundraiser's page said.

The stay-at-home mom, who was taking classes to become a funeral director, was about 34 weeks pregnant when she tested positive for COVID-19 along with her kids and her husband Darryl, Bennett's sister Courtney Bucknam told WIS-TV.

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"It automatically went to bronchitis with Darryl and Ashley, and Ashley's just progressed drastically," Bucknam said.

Though Bennett didn't have any pre-existing medical conditions, according to Bucknam, her health quickly declined and doctors performed an emergency caesarian section on New Year's Day to deliver Eliza.

Bennett, who had also suffered a blood clot that led to a stroke, never got to hold her baby girl before she died, Bucknam said.

"She was an amazing person," Bucknam said. "If we can learn anything from this, it's that COVID is so serious, and we need to truly take precautions because she was only 36. She had no underlying conditions, and she was gone basically within 10 days."

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Richland County coroner Naida Rutherford has confirmed that Bennett died from COVID-19, WLTX reported.

"I just wish everybody took it serious," Bucknam told the outlet of the virus that took her sister. "It can happen to anybody."

As of Friday, more than 24,782,200 people in the United States have been infected with COPVID-19, with more than 400,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to a New York Times database.

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