BARTLETT, Tenn. — One Mid-South student is not just missing her high school graduation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she’s also juggling treatment for a heart condition.
The Boyland family is leaning on each other while their oldest daughter, Jaela, continues the fight for her life.
Her family considered a transplant, but due to COVID-19, that option has been taken off the table. Instead, Jaela has begun a trial medication, hoping for life-changing results.
“Right now, that’s what we’re trying,” parents Tori and James Boyland said. “We’re kind of in a holding pattern while all this is going on and trying medication at the same time.”
“Now that the coronavirus is around, everyone has to wear masks and can’t stand that close to each other, so it’s kind of hard to get the treatment that I need,” Jaela said.
Jaela, who once used her intelligence on the basketball court, has taken the time to become a COVID-19 expert.
She’s vulnerable to the virus due to her heart condition, so her safety has become the top priority.
“I’m very aware because I know I have a weaker immune system than other people, so it’s easier for me to catch it,” she said.
“I can pick up more responsibility, so she doesn’t have to go get stuff; I can get it for her,” Jaela’s sister Jamya said.
The Boylands have tried to make the best of a scary situation. They decorated the house and yard to celebrate Jaela’s graduation from Bartlett High School.
“I kind of do miss going to school and seeing all my friends,” Jaela said.
The family is hoping by the time doctor’s offices and hospitals return to normal, Jaela’s experimental treatment will have solved her condition for good.
That way, maybe, she won’t need the transplant that was being considered before COVID-19 turned everyone’s world upside down.
“My heart disease, it kind of prepared me, and it made me tougher, so COVID-19 is just another obstacle that I’m going to overcome,” Jaela said.