An 8-year-old boy from Rockport, Texas passed away hours after he was diagnosed with the flu on Feb. 17 and discharged from the hospital.
Medical officials have yet to confirm the exact cause of the boy’s death and are waiting on test results. His aunt, Jessica Solis, is eager for an update.
“The not knowing is what’s killing us,” she told KRIS-TV. “We want to know.”
The boy, Martin Campbell, began to show flu-like symptoms on the night of Feb. 17. His mother, Jasmine Solis, told KIII that he was diagnosed with the flu after a visit to the emergency room at a hospital, where he was given medicine and then discharged.
“It was just like a normal fever,” Jasmine told the news outlet. But hours later, her son “was pretty much turning purple” and she called 911 while her boyfriend tried to revive him.
“Before help came, it was just already too late,” she said.
KIII reported that Martin was sent to the emergency room of a hospital in Portland, where he went into cardiac arrest.
“When I got there they finally told me he was gone,” Jasmine said. “I can’t comprehend why. He’s so little. He’s so bubbly, and he still had so much.”
Martin is better known as “Chucky” or “Junior” by those around him.
“He had a lot to say,” his aunt Jessica told KIII. “He wanted to say it and he wanted you to sit there and listen.”
“He had a high-pitched, squeaky voice, and it’s not here and that’s what I miss,” she said.
Family friend Tasha Martin is hosting a fundraiser on Feb. 23 to raise money for the boy’s funeral.
“Everyone is willing to give, everyone’s trying to give, everyone is reaching out in different ways,” Tasha told KRIS-TV of the support she’s witnessed from the Rockport community.
Martin’s classmates sent his family messages of support.
“My poor baby thought he never had friends, because everyone picked on him because he was different,” Jasmine told KIII.
The family plans to commemorate the boy’s life on Feb. 24, which would have been his ninth birthday. They plan to lay him to rest on Feb. 26.
Ohio Girl Dies After Flu Diagnosis
Just days following Martin’s death, a 10-year-old girl from Ohio died late Feb. 20 after she was diagnosed with strep throat and the flu on the morning of Feb. 19.
The girl, Sable Gibson, went into cardiac arrest on the afternoon of Feb. 19, her mother Holly Rauch Gibson wrote on Facebook.
Sable was airlifted to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital but died the following night.
“It is with shattered hearts that we share that our sweet Sable Paige took her first steps into Jesus’ arms tonight,” the Facebook post read. “Our hearts are completely broken.”
Mason City Schools, where Sable attended, released a statement on Feb. 21.
“Please join us in keeping the Gibson family in our daily thoughts and prayers as they navigate these very difficult days,” the statement read.
“We have additional counselors at Western Row today who are working with any student who may need help processing,” the public school district added. “It’s moments like these that we come together as a community to walk alongside one another and care for each other.”
The funeral is scheduled for Feb. 23.
The Gibson Family is grateful for the community's outpouring of love. Sable's funeral will be on Saturday, February 23,…
Doctors from the nonprofit Kettering Health Network based in Dayton, Ohio say Sable’s death is a reminder that it can happen to any flu patient, according to WDTN.
“The flu alone is enough to give you horrible viral phenomena and respiratory failure. Can you get other things on top of it? Absolutely,” Dr. Nancy Pook told the news outlet.
The immune system is weakened from the flu, which leaves the body vulnerable to bacteria that can cause secondary illnesses, WDTN reported.
In an opinion article previously published by The Epoch Times, Jeremy Hammond wrote: “Many if not most people diagnosed with “the flu” may not have actually been infected with the influenza virus at all, given the large number of other viruses that cause the same symptoms and the general lack of lab confirmation.”
