The Allen Family
Madi was a healthy 12-year-old athlete before she spent a total of 93 days in the hospital recovering from her near-death experience with flu.
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The Andersen Family
Brittany’s infection with Influenza A started with a sore throat but rapidly escalated to every parent’s worst nightmare.
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The Booth Family
Austin’s parents wish they could rewind to before their nightmare began. The first thing they would do is get their children and themselves vaccinated against the flu.
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The Byerman Family
Bryerlee became hypoxic due to flu, which restricted her body from getting oxygen to her brain, liver, and other organs.
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The Cargile Family
Maya’s mother knows that a flu vaccine could have prevented their horrible ordeal.
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The Chandler Family
Chance's family did not know that the vaccine changes annually and, as such, people need to get vaccinated every year.
Read Chance's story
The Cover Family
Three days after first exhibiting symptoms, the flu virus caused Elizabeth's lungs to fill with blood in a complication known as bi-lateral pneumonia.
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The Craft Family
Chelsea was not vaccinated against H1N1 because at the time the vaccine was not available in her community.
Read Chelsea's Story
The Crane Family
Blake's parents did not know that people can die from flu until their 16-year-old son tragically passed away.
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The D’Imperio Family
James had not been vaccinated against the flu because at the time the CDC did not recommend that children his age get vaccinated. Now, every year, James’ whole family gets vaccinated against the flu.
Read James's Story
The Darling Family
Isabella was a healthy teenager whose flu illness damaged her lungs, leading to a double lung transplant.
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The Das Family
Anakin was born 10 weeks premature as a result of his mother contracting influenza while pregnant. He now suffers from chronic lung disease.
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The Drapeau Family
Amiah was just 4-years-old when she developed pneumonia and sepsis, which were brought on by the influenza B virus.
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The Duvall Family
Luke was a healthy 15-year-old athlete who spent 12 days in a coma and 30 days in the hospital with flu.
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The Estlinbaum Family
Saying goodbye to Tony was something his parent’s hearts couldn’t or wouldn’t prepare for.
Read Tony's Story
The Fulweiler Family
At 40 years old, Nick was an active, healthy father whose flu illness resulted in a life-threatening hospitalization for 28 days, rehabilitation, and lifelong medical complications.
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The Gonzales Family
Brandon lost his life to H1N1 influenza. Brandon was not vaccinated against the flu.
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The Gorenstein Family
Nate's asthma exacerbated his flu illness, leading to respiratory arrest and a 12-day stay in the hospital.
Read Nate's Story
The Hall Family
Shari was a healthy mom and wife whose flu illness led to 41 days in the ICU and multiple amputations.
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The Hauver Family
Will's flu illness progressed to diabetic ketoacidosis, causing him to lose his life in less than three days.
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The Haynes Family
Latasha was a healthy, active 34-year-old when what seemed like a simple illness turned into pneumonia and congestive heart failure brought on by the flu virus.
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The Henderson Family
Elijah died from influenza just two days after showing his first symptom. He was not vaccinated against the flu.
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The Hinderliter Family
Charlie was a healthy 38-year-old whose flu illness put him in the hospital for 58 days.
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The Holt Family
Joey had not been vaccinated against H1N1 because at the time the vaccine was not available in his community.
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The Hunt Family
Amy lost her life to secondary complications caused by the influenza virus. She had not been vaccinated because it was not recommended by her family's doctor.
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The Jackson Family
This tragedy has made Marques’ mother and grandfather crusaders for yearly influenza vaccinations.
Read Marques' Story
The Kanowitz Family
Amanda seemed to have a typical virus, but within 48 hours she was found lifeless in her bed.
Read Amanda's Story
The Lastinger Family
After she was bathed and dressed for the doctor’s office, Emily laid down in her parents’ bed to rest. She was found lifeless 15 minutes later.
Read Emily's Story
The Lin Family
Trevor had not been vaccinated against H1N1 influenza because at the time the vaccine was not available in his community.
Read Trevor's Story
The Lowery Family
Piper had not been vaccinated against the flu because she did not like needles. Piper’s mother, Pegy, is now an active advocate for annual flu vaccinations.
Read Piper's Story
The Mann-O'Brien Family
Kendra was a 35-year-old mother of two when she lost her life to flu.
Read Kendra's Story
The Marotta Family
Joseph had not been vaccinated against H1N1 influenza because at the time the vaccine was not available in his community.
Read Joseph's Story
The McCarthy Family
What seemed like a little “bug” that caused Ayzlee to feel achy with a fever turned into her struggling for breath and fighting for her life.
Ready Ayzlee's story
The McCormick Family
Ashley’s doctors had a hard time finding a hospital that had an available ECMO machine because it was the peak of the flu season and they were all being used.
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The McGowan Family
Martin died of complications from influenza just 24 hours after his first symptom appeared.
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The McKinley-Rosen Family
Christopher had a sudden onset of Influenza B, which caused him to lose his ability to sit, crawl, walk, run, eat, and drink independently.
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The Miller Family
Allison nearly lost her life to secondary flu complications, which included amputation of her left leg above the knee.
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The Miller Family
Caroline had been vaccinated against the flu every year. The one year her parents forgot, she ended up hospitalized with flu.
Read Caroline's story
The Mitchell Family
As a result of her flu illness, Christa developed pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and septic shock, which led to the loss of her fingers and toes.
Read Christa's story
The Moise Family
Ian died of complications from Influenza A approximately 30 hours after he showed his first symptom of being sick.
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The Neiman-Brown Family
JJ was a healthy two-year-old whose life was taken by flu in less than 24 hours.
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The Northrop Family
As Liza's body tried to fight off her flu infection, her lungs became stiff and brittle, until they blew apart from what is known as pneumothorax.
Read Liza's story
The Nuland Family
Jacob’s mother knows that the vaccine may have saved his life – it may have given Jacob just enough protection to get through it.
Read Jacob's story
The Palmer Family
Breanne died in her mother’s arms on December 23, 2003 from influenza A.
Read Breanne's Story
The Pena Family
Reese's mother thought the flu vaccine was optional since it is not always required. This one decision not to vaccinate her daughter forever changed her entire family’s life.
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The Peters Family
Brittney was a happy, healthy child with no history of chronic illness. Prior to her death, no one suggested that Brittney receive a flu vaccine.
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The Pisani Family
Today, Antonio is a healthy child who gets vaccinated against influenza every year, as does his entire family.
Read Antonio's story
The Pulgini Family
Cecilia was a healthy 45-year-old woman before she lost her life to flu after eight agonizing days in the hospital.
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The Rasmussen Family
Paul was a healthy 57-year-old who had never before gotten the flu. He didn't realize his first flu illness could kill him.
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The Rogers Family
Jewel was hospitalized for over three months with complications of H1N1 flu. She still suffers flu-related complications to this day.
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The Romero Family
Madison passed away from flu after her heart stopped beating for the fourth time.
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The Sidari Family
Leon was healthy and vibrant. But that didn't keep him from dying on Christmas morning, only two days after showing general flu symptoms.
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The Smith Family
In less than 48 hours, flu took the life of bubbly, joyous 3-year-old Cayden.
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The Smith Family
In the blink of an eye, a parent’s worst nightmare became the Smith’s reality.
Read Noel's story
The Spencer Family
Within just minutes of arriving at the hospital, the staff called a “code blue” because Julianna’s heart had stopped beating.
Read Julianna's story
The Splan Family
The flu attacked Emma's heart, causing her to lose her life at just 6 years old.
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The Stein Family
When 4-year-old Jessica's heart stopped beating doctors attempted to revive her, but were unsuccessful.
Read Jessica's story
The Teichman Family
Brent was a vibrant and healthy 29-year-old chef who died just four hours after seeking medical care.
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The Tsoumbakos Family
For many months after contracting the flu, Ayla required a wheelchair and had difficulty walking unassisted.
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The Vlasman Family
Marty spent six weeks in a coma due to flu. His heart stopped three times, his kidneys failed, and he lost over 100 pounds. He still stuffers with chronic health complications.
Read Marty's story
The Wehrkamp Family
Her family wants everyone to know how serious the flu can be, even for healthy children like Gianna.
Read Gianna's story
The Yaksich Family
Within 24 hours of her arrival at the local hospital, Alana died of flu-related complications that caused swelling and injury to her brain.
Read Alana's story