Parents: 6-year-old Jackson girl dies after testing positive for COVID-19

A Madison County family is mourning the sudden death of their child.

The parents of Gigi Morse, 6, said she died from COVID-19, which would make her the first childhood death in Madison County related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jackson-Madison County Health Department Director Kim Tedford confirmed the death in their press briefing Wednesday morning.

Gigi had been sick in recent days, and she had a doctor’s appointment Tuesday.

“The doctor said she had a viral bug and to let her rest and eat as many popsicles and slushies as she wanted,” said her mother, Priscilla Morse, in a blog post letting friends and followers know her child had died. “She went to sleep and she died and I don’t even want to breathe anymore without her.”

The Morse family has multiple blogs, each with thousands of followers, documenting their family life with multiple children from international adoption.

Gigi was one of those children, adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine at 3 years old.

“She had such a rough start to her short life, living unloved, unwanted in an orphanage in Ukraine,” said David Morse in a Facebook post. “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.”

According to both parents, they put Gigi down for a nap on Tuesday after the doctor’s appointment and she never woke up. Their oldest child performed CPR on her before emergency personnel arrived and took her to the hospital.

“She learned her own version of English, but we understood,” David Morse said. “She would sing Disney songs and nursery rhymes perfectly. She would give me kisses and then say 'more,' and we would kiss again and she would say 'more' again.

“I got to kiss my Gigi yesterday on the last time I would see her alive and we did the ‘more.’ I just love her so much. We are all so devastated. She now walks with Jesus. No more epilepsy, no more autism. She is my heart.”

A family friend, Andrea Bell, put together a Go Fund Me page for the Morse family to help with funeral expenses.

Final Expenses for Gillian (Gigi) Morse organized by Andrea Bell

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.