Very sad news to report this afternoon. David Lemaire, a 2019 Teurlings Catholic High School graduate, who has batted coronavirus for the past month, has died. He was only 19.

Several weeks ago, both David and his younger brother, Jacob Lemaire, were hospitalized with COVID-19. Jacob would eventually recover and leave the hospital.

Mark Lemaire confirmed his son's death on a Facebook post at 3:20 this afternoon writing: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 David is finally healed and made whole again and is now with our Lord and Savior!"

In early July, the family asked for prayers via Facebook along with convalescent plasma donations from B- donors who have recovered from the virus.

Teurlings Catholic even held a blood drive with Ochsner Blood Bank just last Saturday to help David out. The family had commented on a Facebook post that David had received over 120 units of blood products in 20 days, so replenishing the blood bank supply was important.

Jacob Lemaire, who is entering his senior year at Teurlings, received donated plasma in the intensive care unit at CHRISTUS Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital in Lake Charles. Of course, he would later recover.

David also received plasma in the intensive care unit at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. He also had been receiving ECMO, which is a treatment that uses a pump to circulate blood through an artificial lung back into the bloodstream. The machine allows lungs to breathe gently and heal.

Things got serious on Thursday when David began bleeding in his chest. He underwent surgery to control the bleeding and the surgery was successful, but his condition remained serious. His father wrote on Facebook yesterday: "Really need prayers now for David!!!"

Our condolences go out to the entire Lemaire family during this extremely difficult time.

 

 

More From 97.3 The Dawg