In April 2002, when two-year-old Katie Wild was picked up from daycare by her mother, the young girl displayed very mild flu symptoms – a runny nose and a weak cough. By the following day, Katie’s lips had turned gray and she began to vomit. Her mother rushed her to the local urgent care center where the doctor began an IV to fight dehydration. It seemed that Katie would respond well to the treatment, but she immediately went limp in her mother’s arms. From the urgent care center, Katie was taken to the regional children’s hospital. Part of her heart had collapsed and she was in critical need of a specialized cardiac doctor.

After undergoing a life-saving procedure, Katie was placed on a ventilator and hospitalized for eight days. The young girl needed 18 months of follow-up cardiological care, but has fully recovered.

After Katie's life-threatening bout with the flu, her mother became an outspoken advocate on the need for pediatric flu vaccination. She recently appeared in Washington D.C., speaking on the importance of this childhood safeguard.