Missouri Teen Who Beat Cancer Three Times Dies From Covid-19 Complications

A Missouri teenager who beat cancer three times has just passed away from Covid-19 complications.

Aspen Deke, 17, was diagnosed with the Philadelphia chromosome-positive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of four. At the time, she was given a dire prognosis. On Saturday, the teen passed away while in the arms of her mother and father. Fox 4 News reports that she was diagnosed with Covid-19 back in November.

While Aspen had fought cancer with four years of chemo and a bone marrow transplant, her parents said fighting Covid-19 was on an entirely different level of difficulty. “At least with cancer, as bad as it sounds, and it is scary, but there’s a lot that you know about it. They can say, ‘this is how bad it is, this is what we are going to do. This is what we expect.’ But with this, everything is unknown,” Eric Deke told FOX4 last week.

Two weeks before her favorite holiday, Christmas, Aspen was sent to Children’s Mercy Hospital. She spent most of her time in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit intubated on a ventilator. 

Her family remembers her as someone who loved to bake cake and cupcakes for birthdays and holidays. She also loved planning out the gifts she would get her parents months in advance. Aspen was a student at Fort Osage High School.

Rest in peace, Aspen.