As the flu season approaches, Kerry Jones, Assistant People Manager at NECS reminds us how important it is that if offered, we should get the flu jab this autumn/winter to protect ourselves and also to protect others who could potentially have an underlying health condition. Kerry tells us her personal experience.
“February 2018, a normal Sunday morning, catching up housework and getting ready to leave the house to visit my brother for lunch. My husband, however wasn’t feeling well, he was complaining of backache, headache and generally not himself, which wasn’t like him as he was never unwell.
“My son and I, who was six at the time, got ready to leave the house, but as I said bye, I noticed my husband had slumped across the kitchen table. I called his name, but no response, he then toppled from his chair. The next hour was quite surreal, he wasn’t breathing, cold to the touch I rang an ambulance who asked me to check his pulse, and I put him in the recovery position. I recall my first aid training from 10 years previous kick in, airway, breathing and circulation. He wasn’t breathing and after checking his airways, I noticed he’d also swallowed his tongue, there was also no pulse, so I started to undertake resuscitation, not really remembering how many chest compressions versus mouth to mouth I should be doing.
“The ambulance arrived and as his heart had stopped, they had to use a defibrillator twice before a faint pulse could be found, before transferring him into the ambulance. All the while our six-year-old was stood there.
“My husband was admitted to ICU for three days, two of which on a life-support machine, after running tests the Consultant advised that he had contracted influenza. I have always taken up the offer of the flu jab through my NHS Employer, and our son had the nasal spray at school. It was only my husband who hadn’t had the jab.
“It also turned out that he had an undiagnosed heart condition, likely from a child and flu attacked his heart that day, resulting in cardiac arrest.
“He remained in hospital until June 2018, after heart surgery and neuro rehabilitation, and whilst he had an undiagnosed heart condition, it was ultimately flu that caused him to collapse that day. He was only 39, at that point we didn’t think he had any underlying health conditions, was young and extremely fit and active, there was no need to have the jab. However, you don’t need to fit a profile to protect yourself, if the offer is there, take it, if not to protect yourself but to protect others who potentially may have underlying health conditions.
“The Consultant told us that he’d had two other males in ICU that year alone who had been admitted with influenza, the stigma of young, fit men receiving the jab was still very much there.
“I continue to receive the jab as does my husband at his GP practice, and our son is also keen to receive, despite the fear of needles! If you can have it, do so.”
More information on Flu symptoms is available here
Learn more about the Flu vaccine here