A Texas mom and teacher died of the flu Sunday after reportedly declining the flu medication that was prescribed for her because it “cost too much.”
Heather Holland, 38, reportedly began to feel sick last week but decided not to purchase the Tamiflu her doctor prescribed because the $116 cost was too high, the Weatherford Democrat reported.
Holland’s husband Frank did get the medication for her on Thursday after he found out she hadn’t gotten it, but she became sicker on Friday and had to be hospitalized.
“Friday night, things escalated and she ended up in the ICU,” Frank Holland said, the Democrat reported. “The doctors got the blood cultures back and they had to put her on dialysis early Saturday.” Holland had become septic as a very small number of those who get the flu do, and the infection had progressed too far.
“I have to be strong for the kids but it’s still surreal, it hasn’t all set in,” Frank Holland said, the Democrat reported. “We’ve been together a long time, over half my life. She’s my best friend, my soulmate, my everything.”
The Hollands have two children ages 10 and 7.
“She wouldn’t go get medicine because she’s a mama. Mamas are tough. She just kept going,” Holland’s pastor Clark Bosher told Fox 4. “I don’t think she thought she was that sick. It happened so quick.”
The flu outbreak has killed more than 60 children so far this season and flu activity is still increasing in many parts of the country.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.