Quenten Thomas had the flu, but at first he wasn’t worried. After all, he was only 27, and otherwise healthy. But his dad Robert told NBC news that after he became short of breath, he started using a finger pulse oximeter to monitor his oxygen levels, and what he saw alarmed him.
“It hurt really bad when he coughed, and he was having trouble catching (his) breath,” the elder Thomas said. “He noticed his oxygen was dropping, so he went to the hospital asking for oxygen first.”
The hospital treated Quenten, a father of three young children from Maryville, Tennessee, and then sent him home to rest and recover. But his oxygen levels did not improve, and soon the young dad was back at the ER. This time, he was admitted, but his symptoms just got worse.
His father describes Quenten’s experience with plain old influenza as “unbelievable.” Quenten, who had not had his flu shot this season, was soon put on a ventilator and into a medically-induced coma.
But it wasn’t enough. On January 6, 2024, Quenten Thomas lost his life to the flu at just twenty-seven years old. His grieving father described his shock that such a healthy, hard-working young man with “no quit in him” could die this way.
The Centers for Disease Control says that 9,400 Americans have died from influenza this flu season, among 14 million cases. This includes 40 pediatric deaths. Though the death of such a young person to the flu is rare, Quenten’s father is encouraging families not to take chances with the flu.
“You might not need the flu shot. You might do just fine without it,” he said. “(But) you might spread the flu to your son, who’s younger than you are, who might die of it. If you love your family, don’t risk it. Why risk somebody you love you so much?”
On a personal note, my husband had influenza in December 2019, and was the sickest I had ever seen him in our 23 years together. He had not has his flu shot, and as he is asthmatic, I was very, very worried about him. He then passed it on to our son, who had a 104 degree fever. He also had not had his flu shot and I felt so awful about it. It still makes me very anxious when I think back to that time. Since that scary experience, my family and I are never without our flu shots. As NBC News is reporting that doctors have seen even more severe flu symptoms in young people this year, I highly encourage you and yours to get your flu shot if you haven’t already. It’s not too late!
