‘I Misplaced My Daughter to the Flu, Right here’s What I Need Dad and mom To Know’

[ad_1] A mother who misplaced her 2-year-old daughter to flu has a message for folks to attempt to make sure this by no means occurs to a different household once more.

Megan Parks, from Houston, Texas, instructed Newsweek that her daughter Kennedy was a wholesome and vibrant little lady.

“It simply was so fast,” Parks, 34, stated. “It simply did not make any sense to us how she was sick with the flu and now she's gone.”

In February 2023, Parks and her husband Jesse, 41, hosted a Superbowl Sunday celebration at their home.

<img id="11038635" alt="" caption="Megan Parks with her husband Jesse and their daughter Kennedy." credit="Megan Parks" sourcealt="" sources="[]" fetchpriority="auto" loading="lazy" width="3000" height="2000" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" src="color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1536px, (min-width: 768px) 768px, 100vw" srcset="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1.png?w=640&quality=75&webp=1 640w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1.png?w=750&quality=75&webp=1 750w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1.png?w=1000&quality=75&webp=1 1000w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1.png?w=1200&quality=75&webp=1 1200w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1.png?w=1360&quality=75&webp=1 1360w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1.png?w=1600&quality=75&webp=1 1600w" bad-src="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/1.png?w=1600&quality=75&webp=1"/> The subsequent morning, Kennedy had developed a slight fever and her dad and mom determined to maintain her at residence from college. On Thursday, Megan took her to the pediatrician, the place she examined optimistic for influenza.

“We had been despatched residence to relaxation, maintain her actually hydrated, monitor her respiratory, and naturally, take her to the emergency room if issues escalated,” Megan stated.

Over the course of the weekend, Kennedy’s situation worsened. On Sunday, she wakened with blue lips, elevating alarm bells for Megan. They headed to the closest emergency room which was quarter-hour away by automotive.

“I am speaking to her the entire time…after which about midway there she stops responding,” Megan recalled. “I leap out of a automotive and I understand she's not respiratory so I name 911.”

Megan drove to a safer location as instructed—a close-by parking zone—the place she began performing CPR. At that second, a person, who was a soccer coach, pulled up in his truck and took over.

“We waited for the ambulance to come back, they usually labored on her for some time, however finally we ended up dropping her,” Megan stated.

“[It was] like a film the place they arrive in, they usually inform you that there is nothing else that they'll do,” Megan stated. “It was simply stunning as a result of at this level, it sort of hadn't clicked but that this was due to the flu. It sort of appeared like one thing else will need to have occurred.”

Whereas anybody can get sick from the flu, younger kids are at larger danger of growing severe flu-related issues.

“Speaking to your physician earlier than about annual flu vaccination is a very powerful step,” pediatrician Dr. Leonard Friedland instructed Newsweek. As soon as signs of flu begin rising, it’s too late to vaccinate, he added.

Dr. Friedland, who can be the vp and director of scientific affairs and public well being vaccines at GSK, is urging proactive prevention in opposition to each the flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), significantly amongst younger kids.

“It’s necessary to speak to your loved ones’s physician or pharmacist about annual flu vaccination for everybody six months of age and older,” he stated. “If an individual is unable to get vaccinated till November or later, vaccination continues to be really useful as a result of flu mostly peaks in February and important exercise can proceed into Could.”

Megan stated the weeks and months after Kennedy’s loss of life had been a blur. She and Jesse held what she known as a “fun-eral” for Kennedy and celebrated her life with actions she loved.

Three weeks after her passing, Megan came upon that she was pregnant along with her son Rory.

“That was an enormous shock and it sort of took over every part,” she stated. “I used to be making an attempt to give attention to ensuring that I used to be doing every part that I presumably may to ensure that my physique was in a superb place. We additionally did a ton of grief remedy, counseling and couple's remedy.”

Within the wake of her loss of life, Megan and Jesse have made it their mission to make sure no different household experiences the loss of a kid due to such a preventable sickness.

“On the time, we did not understand that getting the flu vaccine might have helped defend her,” she stated. “Sadly, we realized that too late.”

Above all, she and Jesse didn’t understand how deadly the flu might be.

“We had been relieved once we heard that is what she examined optimistic for as a result of we had been fearful she had one thing that we deemed extra severe,” Megan stated. “It seems that the flu was what we must always have been fearful about. We simply actually want that we might have heard this message earlier than we misplaced her.”

Over three years on, Megan and Jesse have 2-year-old previous Rory and 4-month-old son Avery.

“We giggle on a regular basis about how Kennedy wouldn't be happy with their conduct each from time to time, as a result of they're in all places for positive, however we're completely ensuring that we're on prime of their well being always,” Megan stated. “We do not miss any appointments or vaccinations as a result of we've conferences at work or something like that anymore as a result of it is so necessary to ensure that they're prioritized.”

Megan's message is obvious: vaccination will help forestall the flu for you and your loved ones.

"Instantly, the flu can change your life,” she stated. “One of the simplest ways to guard your loved ones is to speaking to your physician or pharmacist.”