6-year-old child whose parents blogged adoption dies of COVID-19

A 6-year-old child, whose parents blogged about her adoption, died of COVID-19 earlier this week in Tennessee.

The parents of Gigi Morse said in a Facebook post that Gigi “passed away unexpectedly” Tuesday after returning from a doctor’s appointment and taking a nap. Gigi’s passing was the first childhood death recorded in Madison County, Tenn., the Jackson Sun reported. 

Jackson-Madison County Health Department Director Kim Tedford confirmed Gigi Morse’s death during a Wednesday press briefing, according to the newspaper.

Gigi’s mother Priscilla Morse wrote in a blog post that the doctor said Gigi, “had a viral bug” and instructed her to “let her rest and eat as many popsicles and slushies as she wanted.”

“She went to sleep and she died and I don’t even want to breathe anymore without her,” Priscilla wrote, according to the Sun.

After their oldest child conducted CPR, emergency personnel took Gigi to the hospital.

Gigi was adopted at age 3 after living in a Ukrainian orphanage and was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, epilepsy and autism, the “Today” show reported in 2019. The Morse family, who have adopted several children from different countries, writes several blogs about their adoptions and family life. The blogs each have thousands of followers.

“She had such a rough start to her short life, living unloved, unwanted in an orphanage in Ukraine,” her father David Morse said in a Facebook post, according to the newspaper. “Severe medical issues. We found her and knew immediately that she had to be our daughter. We brought her home and showed her a love like no other.”

“She would give me kisses and then say ‘more,’ and we would kiss again and she would say ‘more’ again,” he posted, adding “I got to kiss my Gigi yesterday on the last time I would see her alive and we did the ‘more.’”

A family friend launched a GoFundMe page for the Morse family to deal with the grief and funeral expenses. As of Thursday evening, $23,050 was raised out of a $25,000 goal.

“I want to raise enough money to cover Gigi’s final expenses, time off work, counseling, whatever they need,” the GoFundMe reads. “Thousands of us have followed their adoption story and now I need all of  us to bind together and help this beautiful family.”

Madison County has confirmed 984 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths. Tennessee as a whole has confirmed 116,350 cases and 1,186 deaths, according to state data.