A Denver teenager died after fighting COVID-19 for the second time, loved ones said.
Wilber Portillo, 18, first contracted the infectious disease after traveling with his cousin on a trip to Los Angeles, Denverite reported.
Two months after recovering from the virus, he appears to have been hit again, developing a fever following a party in which two other people tested positive for COVID-19, the press reported.
Portillo went to the doctor’s office on November 18, where he was told he had a “very strong lung infection.”
“It simply came to our notice then [time] I heard about him “, Portillo’s friend, Andrea Ferrel, told KDVR news station.
That night, the teenager died in his sleep, media reported.
“It’s a little hard to know that he no longer exists physically,” Castillo told Denverite. “He was a bright guy.”
It is not known what caused his death, but the doctor’s office informed his family two days later that he had tested positive for the virus.
“It just took us by surprise how it happened,” Castillo said. “We will never know what caused his death.”
Reports have not confirmed whether Castillo – an urban farmer and a budding entrepreneur – has contracted a mutant strain of the virus.
Health experts say reinfection is possible, but cases are rare.
Portillo’s cousin, Jamie Gomez-Gonzalez, urges people to take the virus seriously, “no matter how young or healthy you may seem.”
“Please stay home as long as you can,” he wrote on a GoFundMe page to cover the cost of the funeral.