DES MOINES, IA (KCCI/CNN) – A young Iowa boy is in the fight of his life following a severe case of the flu.
Seven-year-old Jaxson Ridout has been hospitalized since Friday, diagnosed with respiratory failure and septic shock.
Melody Ridout said she thought her son was in the clear after his initial bout with the flu until his fever returned, his symptoms got worse and he was rushed to the Iowa Methodist Medical Center emergency room.
"We thought we were losing him,” she said. “Even doc didn't think he was going to make it."
Jaxson was born premature and that viruses hit him hard because of his weaker lungs, his mom said. Even knowing that, she said she never anticipated her son’s flu diagnosis to be so severe.
"I honestly thought when we were coming into the ER, he was going to get a couple treatments,” Ridout said. “He was going to get maybe some IV fluids because he was dehydrated, and that was it, and we were going to go home."
Instead Jaxson was placed into a medically induced coma and put on a ventilator to help him breath.
Jaxson has been sedated since Friday, but Ridout said she has started to see some small movements from her son. He opened his eyes Tuesday evening.
"Yeah, I'm talking to him, and I feel like his presence is here, but I don't know. They're telling me it is, but I don't know,” she said. “I know he's fighting for us. He's fighting."
While Jaxson continues extensive treatment in the pediatric intensive care unit, his mother is asking for prayers from the community.
"It's been so overwhelming and so amazing, and the prayers I think is what really has helped him pull through this,” Ridout said.
When Jaxson's fever returned last week, she said she hesitated to take him to the doctor and instead wanted to see if the fever would go down on its own.
Now she urges parents to seek medical attention for their children immediately.
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