“It’s horrible. I don’t wish this on anybody.”
A family in the US have spoken of their heartache at losing their six-year-old daughter to the flu just days after she was diagnosed.
Emily Muth died last Friday evening, according to ABC.
The little girl fell ill on Tuesday and her parents Nathan and Rhonda brought her to their local care centre in Cary, North Carolina.
She tested positive for flu and was prescribed an antiviral medicine before being sent home with her parents.
By Thursday, Emily’s fever had lessened but on Friday morning she had trouble breathing.
Her parents called for an ambulance. A paramedic who arrived told Rhonda that her strained breathing was a symptom of the flu and not to worry.
Things took a turn for the worse a few hours later.
“She was breathing a little bit heavier. And all of sudden she just raised up and went back down. I went, ‘Emily, Emily.’ And I noticed she wasn’t breathing,” said Rhonda.
She called for an ambulance again. Paramedics arrived and performed CPR but weren’t able to save Emily.
As well as her parents, the six-year-old left behind two brothers aged eight and 10 who her parents say will now be getting flu jabs.
The family are “devastated,” said Rhonda.
“How could that even happen? I mean one day she’s fine, you know, and I mean she had the fever and she was a little achy.
“Other than that, I mean, she had had the runny nose and cough like typical, you know, and then she’s gone.
“It’s horrible. I don’t wish this on anybody.”
