Infant killed by coronavirus ‘went out looking like a princess’: firefighter dad

The months-old girl tragically killed by coronavirus “went out looking like a princess” during her funeral — wearing the dress her newly minted firefighter dad had got her for his FDNY graduation ceremony that she didn’t live to see, the father told The Post in an emotional interview Thursday.
Jerel La Santa got the rose-gold dress with glittered roses for young Jay-Natalie La Santa to wear at his March 27 graduation, but the ceremony was delayed due to the pandemic COVID-19.
But he felt blessed that she was able to wear it at her funeral weeks later, after she was claimed by the coronavirus at nearly 5 months old on Monday.
“She went out looking like a princess,” the 30-year-old told The Post, fighting back tears in an emotional interview. “She had such a beautiful white little casket because we didn’t want her in a body bag.”
La Santa had just finished his first-ever shift as a New York City firefighter in The Bronx in late March when he found out his young daughter Jay-Natalie was in an emergency room.
“When I got to my car, there was a note from my mother — ya know I couldn’t have my phone on because I’m the new guy — to go to the ER, she’s there,” Jerel La Santa said Thursday, just three days after losing his daughter.
“That’s one way to start my career.”
Jay-Natalie, who had already struggled with a heart condition, was diagnosed with bronchitis and kept overnight because she had a fever, her 29-year-old mother Lindsey La Santa said.
Doctors tested young Jay-Natalie twice for COVID-19 — once on March 21 when she was admitted and again six days later — before realizing she had contracted the pandemic virus.
Lindsey La Santa said doctors were unsure if the child had it all along and the first test was a fluke — or if she picked it up in the ICU, which had been overflowing with adults and children.
By April 4, Jay-Natalie had to be intubated.
“She was so weak and lethargic,” Lindsey La Santa said. “From April to her last breath, she was just in a paralytic state.”
Only one parent was allowed at a time, so the mom and dad took 12-hour shifts at the hospital until April 20, when their infant’s vitals crash.
“Everything is just perfect right now,” Jerel told Lindsey over the phone just before things went south, according to the mom.
She recalled: “We were hopeful … her numbers were beautiful, her oxygen levels were good. Then 10 minutes later he called me to come … ‘she doesn’t have a pulse.’ ”
Doctors tried for more than 30 minutes to save the infant, but they couldn’t — and she died a week before she’d be 5-months-old.
Jerel was thankful on Thursday, though, saying, “they were lucky compared to other people” who lost loved ones during the outbreak.
Little Jay-Natalie’s godmother is a funeral director, so Jerel and Lindsey were able to bathe their baby and garb her in the dress that was previously put aside for Jerel’s graduation.
The godmother arranged for a private, informal ceremony at her funeral parlor — where the parents were able to say goodbye to Jay-Natalie since the official services set for May 2 will have to be closed-casket.
Jerel’s fellow firefighters from Engine 63, Ladder 39 and Battalion 15 showed up for support — even though the firefighters didn’t really know him because he only worked the one shift, the grieving dad said.
After the outpouring of support, the parents said they will live-stream the services.
“I like to think we were blessed,” he said of being able to hold an informal ceremony this week.
As of Thursday afternoon, a GoFundMe account had raised more than $30,000 for the parents to help pay for health care costs.