Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/thewest/youthful+face/2370375/story.html
The youthful face of flu
Death of Toronto teen spurred many to get vaccinated
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News ServiceDecember 21, 2009
The day after Christmas will mark two months since 13-year-old Evan Frustaglio died suddenly from the H1N1 flu virus and his story grabbed the nation's attention. Going to the grocery store without Evan is an emotional event, let alone facing the holidays, his father Paul told Canwest News Service in an interview.
"It is a debilitating heartache," Frustaglio said as he described the waves of intense grief that come over him. "You can't walk, you can't breathe and it feels like your head is going to explode."
It was the morning of Monday, Oct. 26, when Frustaglio found his son on the bathroom floor of their Toronto-area home, gasping for air. The father picked up his son, who collapsed in his arms and fell unconscious. He never woke up. The paramedics arrived, but their efforts to revive the young hockey player were unsuccessful. "They couldn't revive his heart," said Frustaglio. "They tried and tried. His little heart wouldn't start."
The Grade 8 student had fallen ill over the weekend and his mother brought him to a walk-in clinic on Sunday. He was sent home with instructions to take medication to treat his flu symptoms. Less than 24 hours later, Evan's parents and younger brother were reeling from the shock that the H1N1 virus had claimed the teen's life.
"We're going down a really dark road in our life and we don't see any light and we don't know when we will," Frustaglio says. "We were a strong family the four of us. So it's been difficult not having our other quarter of our whole there. That's the easiest way I can say it, a quarter of us is missing."
Evan Frustaglio was not the first child to die from the H1N1 flu, but his death was the most highly publicized of all its victims in Canada. He was a young and healthy athlete who died quickly and on the same day H1N1 vaccine clinics opened.
"I was not going to let my son's death be a number, there was just no way," said Frustaglio.
When Evan's story was told by media outlets across the country, it caused concern among some parents who until then, hadn't paid much attention to the H1N1 pandemic. Worried parents who earlier had little enthusiasm for immunizing their children took them to the jam-packed clinics and waited for hours.
Canada's health minister, Leona Aglukkaq, and chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones were asked in a recent interview if they thought vaccine uptake would have been lower that first week of immunization programs if the Frustaglio's story wasn't so publicized.
"Absolutely," said Aglukkaq. "Totally," said Butler-Jones, noting the family's courage for sharing their story. "It was very tragic and it put a face to the reality of this disease -- that it is not typical flu. It was a face but at the same time, there are hundreds of those faces."
The deaths of 397 Canadians have been associated with the H1N1 virus. Evan Frustaglio would have been immunized had the shot been available before his death, says his father. He's encouraging Canadians to get the vaccine.
"I can't express how much pain I'm living through and if I can save one life or 20 or 100, then (Evan) didn't die in vain," said Frustaglio."My son's face, that innocent boy, that was the Evan effect. The public and the media's attention, however, has since drifted away. It's just not a hot topic any more
. . . the problem is people are dying still every week."
The youthful face of flu
Death of Toronto teen spurred many to get vaccinated
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News ServiceDecember 21, 2009
The day after Christmas will mark two months since 13-year-old Evan Frustaglio died suddenly from the H1N1 flu virus and his story grabbed the nation's attention. Going to the grocery store without Evan is an emotional event, let alone facing the holidays, his father Paul told Canwest News Service in an interview.
"It is a debilitating heartache," Frustaglio said as he described the waves of intense grief that come over him. "You can't walk, you can't breathe and it feels like your head is going to explode."
It was the morning of Monday, Oct. 26, when Frustaglio found his son on the bathroom floor of their Toronto-area home, gasping for air. The father picked up his son, who collapsed in his arms and fell unconscious. He never woke up. The paramedics arrived, but their efforts to revive the young hockey player were unsuccessful. "They couldn't revive his heart," said Frustaglio. "They tried and tried. His little heart wouldn't start."
The Grade 8 student had fallen ill over the weekend and his mother brought him to a walk-in clinic on Sunday. He was sent home with instructions to take medication to treat his flu symptoms. Less than 24 hours later, Evan's parents and younger brother were reeling from the shock that the H1N1 virus had claimed the teen's life.
"We're going down a really dark road in our life and we don't see any light and we don't know when we will," Frustaglio says. "We were a strong family the four of us. So it's been difficult not having our other quarter of our whole there. That's the easiest way I can say it, a quarter of us is missing."
Evan Frustaglio was not the first child to die from the H1N1 flu, but his death was the most highly publicized of all its victims in Canada. He was a young and healthy athlete who died quickly and on the same day H1N1 vaccine clinics opened.
"I was not going to let my son's death be a number, there was just no way," said Frustaglio.
When Evan's story was told by media outlets across the country, it caused concern among some parents who until then, hadn't paid much attention to the H1N1 pandemic. Worried parents who earlier had little enthusiasm for immunizing their children took them to the jam-packed clinics and waited for hours.
Canada's health minister, Leona Aglukkaq, and chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones were asked in a recent interview if they thought vaccine uptake would have been lower that first week of immunization programs if the Frustaglio's story wasn't so publicized.
"Absolutely," said Aglukkaq. "Totally," said Butler-Jones, noting the family's courage for sharing their story. "It was very tragic and it put a face to the reality of this disease -- that it is not typical flu. It was a face but at the same time, there are hundreds of those faces."
The deaths of 397 Canadians have been associated with the H1N1 virus. Evan Frustaglio would have been immunized had the shot been available before his death, says his father. He's encouraging Canadians to get the vaccine.
"I can't express how much pain I'm living through and if I can save one life or 20 or 100, then (Evan) didn't die in vain," said Frustaglio."My son's face, that innocent boy, that was the Evan effect. The public and the media's attention, however, has since drifted away. It's just not a hot topic any more
. . . the problem is people are dying still every week."