West Nile Virus Suspected In Boy's Death

Rocco Magliozzi Was Attending Idaho Camp

August 1, 2006

NORWOOD, Mass. -- A Norwood family is preparing to bury their 12-year-old son after he is suspected of contracting West Nile virus at a camp in Idaho.

"We tried to care for him -- and they did an outstanding job -- and then, he passed," Teresa Magliozzi said of her son, Rocco.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the Magliozzi family is still waiting for the final test results, but there is a strong suspicion that the 12-year-old boy died of West Nile virus.

"I wanted Rocco to have peace and I wanted him to be successful in life and to have an inner calmness that I knew he was struggling with," said Teresa Magliozzi. "And we sent him to a great camp and who could have predicted that he would have gotten bit by a bug?"

Rocco's parents searched for a camp where he could go to reconcile lifelong issues he had over being an adopted child. They found that camp in Idaho, the state with the highest number of West Nile cases in the country -- 21 human cases as of July 25.

"His whole life we told him how special he was," said Teresa Magliozzi.

"There was this fear of being special. That's where he went back and forth," said Philip Magliozzi.

"He played big and he had a big heart. He had a lot of interests. He loved to read, he loved archery, football, baseball, he loved being on a team," said Teresa Magliozzi.

At the Idaho camp, the boy wrote about his struggles in a journal.

"My mother always said God wanted me to be in this family and I believe her now. And I have a warm feeling inside. And that was his gift to us," Teresa Magliozzi read from the journal.

"Just love your children, no matter how hard things can be," said Philip Magliozzi.

Rocco's funeral is planned for Thursday.

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