Carsyn Leigh Davis

Carsyn Leigh Davis

Carsyn Leigh Davis turned 17 years old two days before her death. Photos courtesy of the News-Press.
Update, June 7, 2020: Since posting this memorial to our site on Sunday (7/5), Carsyn’s story has become a subject of national discussion. If you wish to see the news stories regarding the circumstances around her death, we encourage you to seek out reputable publications, such as The Washington Post, The Tampa Bay Times, and others. While not perfect, these journalists do their best every day to report fairly and accurately. Due to the coverage, we are removing previous content in this post to focus more on Carsyn, and less on the circumstances that led to her death. If you wish to see the original post, click here.

There’s a lot of grief to unpack with Carsyn’s death. Let’s start with who Carsyn Leigh Davis was and the life that she was grateful to live.

She was a high schooler at Cypress Lake High in Lee County, where she loved photography and bowling.

Her mother, Carole Brunton Davis, told the Fort Myers News-Press:

“Davis, understanding what it is like to have special needs, served as an aide to the special needs classroom and volunteered for Special Olympics and the Be A Buddy Program, Brunton Davis said.”

She had survived cancer, her mom reported, and was a caring and giving person. She was known for her huge heart and good nature, despite all of her health problems. She had nearly died as a child, but developed a strength and love of life that made everyone around her smile.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement detailed the last two weeks of Carsyn’s life in a public Medical Examiner’s report.

On June 10, Carysn’s mom, Carole, took Carsyn, a 16-year-old girl who was immuno-compromised with a history of health issues (including cancer), to a large youth event at her church, where more than 100 children without masks were in attendance.

Her mom then gave her daughter azithromycin, an anti-bacterial drug with no known benefits for fighting COVID-19, for several days. During that “treatment period,” Carsyn developed headaches, sinus pressure and a cough.

When that still did nothing to combat the cough, the headaches, the sinus infection, the fever, her mother started giving her hydroxychloroquine – a dangerous drug that clinical studies have shown makes a person MORE likely to die of COVID, but was recklessly touted by President Trump for months as a supposed “cure.”

The dangers of using hydroxychloroquine have been known and made public since April.

Carsyn immediately worsened and was finally taken to medical professionals where she admitted to the Pediatric ICU.

The hospital began plasma therapy on June 20-21, but the damage to Carsyn’s cardio-respiratory system was too severe and she was orderd to be intubated on June 22. She died the next day.

She spent her 17th birthday doing plasma therapy in the pediatric ICU, unable to breathe without coughing, in constant pain from the damage COVID-19 was doing her body.

Every death on this website is heartbreaking. Every minute lost in someone’s life is a tragedy.

But this one will stick with me long after this virus has torn through our communities.

Rest in peace, Carsyn.