GBHS Student Dies After Lifelong Battle with Sickle Cell Disease

Ty’Niajah Devonshire, the junior at Glen Burnie High School who died Tuesday after suddenly falling ill a day earlier, had been fighting illness her entire life, according to reports.

Before her untimely death, Devonshire was in and out of hospitals much of her adolescent life, battling a sickle cell disease from childbirth. By the time she was 10, she had been hospitalized 30 times, according to a 2007 report from The Baltimore Sun.

Devonshire's sister, A'Niayah, reportedly died in 2001 at age 6 after also suffering from sickle cell disease.

According to Anne Arundel County Public Schools, whose officials consulted with the county's health department, the student died after showing symptoms consistent with bacterial meningitis. The existence of meningitis has not been confirmed by the school or department, but school officials alerted parents to be aware of meningitis symptoms of sudden chills, fever, vomiting, headache, stiff neck and rash.

Health officials do not believe other students are at serious risk of contracting meningitis, as it is not the more contagious viral meningitis.

Bob Mosier, spokesperson for the schools, said even if the case was confirmed as meningitis, that school operations would not change.

"The Department of Health told us we don't even need to change our cleaning procedures, since there is a low chance of it spreading even if it was present," Mosier said.

Although the student's name was reported elsewhere, AACPS has not confirmed the identity of the student.

Patch will continue to follow this story as details emerge.

CORRECTION: A type of meningitis was incorrectly identified in a previous version and was corrected. Patch regrets the error.

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