Mother grieves after son dies of Type B Flu in NC. ‘Numbness gripped my body’

Sabrina Greene-Rusk, a wedding photographer, can’t imagine photographing another wedding now that she knows she will never get to see her son get married.

On Feb. 27, 15-year-old Aidan Hoglen of Waynesville, North Carolina died of heart failure following a swift and brutal battle with Type B Influenza, according to his mother.

“My son passed away yesterday from Type B Flu,” Greene-Rusk wrote in a vivid and harrowing essay for Southern Appalachian Women on Feb. 28. The piece is a moment-by-moment account of a mother’s worst nightmare. “My throat is sore, but I’m sure that is from screaming.”

Aidan loved fishing, hunting, playing music and being outdoors, according to the obituary. He also loved trains. He was the kind of teenager that couldn’t be kept inside, his mother told WLOS.

His youth and energy made what was about to happen even more shocking.

According to Greene-Rusk, her son came home sick Feb. 25. Usually, a hearty teenager being sick in the middle of February is no cause for alarm, so they went to bed. But when Greene-Rusk got up the following morning, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

“I pray no mother ever sees and experiences what I did. ... What happens to the body when it goes into total organ failure is a nightmare,” Greene-Rusk wrote.

While the flu is a mainstay of every winter, Type B Flu is a less common strand, accounting for only 25% of flu cases, according to experts. No strand of flu is commonly a death sentence unless the virus causes inflammation or infection. In this case, Aidan’s influenza caused an infection that affected his heart, his mother said.

Greene-Rusk rushed Aidan to the emergency room. According to WLOS, he was having a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest.

Greene-Rusk wrote about the final moments standing at her son’s hospital bed.

“As I turned in horror I saw the monitor flash ‘0,’ and the numbness gripped my body and soul,” she wrote. “I had to turn and walk away. My baby was gone.”

For some people, the flu can cause a rapid decline.

According to the British Heart Foundation, “the flu causes stress to your body which can affect your blood pressure, heart rate and heart function. There’s evidence that heart attacks happen more often during or immediately after an acute inflammatory illness, such as flu.”

The organization recommends contacting your doctor if you feel sick or think you’ve been exposed to the flu.

For Greene-Rusk and the rest of Aidan’s family, this was all too fast.

“I’m lost, I’m broken, I’m angry, and I’m numb,” Greene-Rusk wrote.

Waynesville is about 30 miles west of Asheville.