Family using grief from son's unexpected death to raise awareness ...Middle East

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A central Ohio mother wants other parents to be more vigilant for their child’s health after her teenage son died in his sleep two years ago. 

Zyier Munnerlyn just turned 13 years old when he started having breathing problems, just the first of many symptoms that led to four doctor visits in a month before he died in his sleep. 

"Zaire was amazing,” his mother Mallory Munnerlyn said. “He was really kind, friendly, helpful, funny. He was a real mama's boy. Real good big brother."

A year and a half after Zyier Munnerlyn's sudden death, his ashes sit in the family's living room, a constant reminder to his mother Mallory and little brother Karter of his love of football and his favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys.  

“He just always wanted to help,” Munnerlyn said. “Very athletic. Great football player. Just all around a great kid. I couldn't ask for anything better." 

He was big, strong, and fast, and loved football. 

From Oct. 19-21, 2023, Munnerlyn took Zyier to their family doctor, then an urgent care facility, and an emergency room a total of four times in a month. 

"He said it felt like someone was kicking him,” she said. “His head, his stomach hurt. He was throwing up again. He was sensitive to light and that would have been our final visit for him. He passed away that night in his sleep."

The otherwise healthy teen was discharged each time and given medication for breathing and stomach issues. After an emergency room visit on Oct. 21, he was discharged that afternoon with a referral to a specialist for gastrointestinal issues. He never made it to the next appointment. 

"I just looked at him, and he's like, ‘Mom, can I have a hug? Can I have a kiss?’ And I'm just like, ‘Of course’ and I give him a kiss and I give him a hug and he looks at me and he says, ‘Okay, I'm going to try and get some sleep now. Good night, beautiful,’ and that was it,” Munnerlyn said. “That was the last time I talked to him." 

"It was a sinus infection that would have been left untreated and led to meningitis,” she said of what led to her son’s death. 

Munnerlyn mourned her son and wondered what could have been done differently. She noticed some of her son's symptoms weren't listed in his paperwork from that last emergency room visit. 

"Because he had a history of headaches, he [the doctor] said he wasn't concerned about it even though I tried to stress that this was different,” she said. “He was not given proper care. At the end of the day, he wasn't and that's been my biggest thing.”

Munnerlyn was reminded of her son's abrupt death two weeks ago when she saw that another 13-year-old in Milwaukee died an eerily similar death.  

“You have to advocate for you, your children, your loved ones to make sure that they get what they need,” she said. 

Now she wants to help other families avoid the same fate by starting Zyier Matters, a foundation formed to advocate for victims of medical malpractice and negligence, according to the organization's website.

“The biggest struggle for me is 'the why factor' -- why so many doctors looked and missed this,” Munnerlyn said. 

When asked what advice she would give to parents, Munnerlyn said, “When they're sick, when they're complaining of something, when they're saying it's different, listen." 

Munnerlyn said parents should always trust their gut when it comes to their children and to get help immediately. The Meningitis Research Foundation agrees, showing that while the disease is rare – only a few thousand cases every year – nearly 90 percent of deaths happen within 24 hours of diagnosis. 

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