The mother of a 13-year-old Kerrville girl who has been in the hospital since early February after suffering complications with the flu, shared a new update on her daughter’s condition Monday, saying the teen – who underwent a triple amputation on March 17 – is still fighting.
“Please continue your prayers our girl is still fighting as hard as she can💜she is our mighty warrior,” Amanda Valdez shared on Monday, March 23, via Facebook.
Her daughter, Kaydin Ruiz, came down with influenza B more than a month ago, according to her mother’s social media posts. The illness later progressed into pneumonia and septic shock, ultimately leading to multi-organ failure on February 1.
Kaydin’s mother said last week that the young girl was recovering after doctors performed a five-hour surgery to remove both of her legs below the knee and her right arm above her elbow. But in the most recent Facebook post made just after midnight, Monday, the mother shared that Kaydin’s vitals had been “all over the place,” and that the young girl is extremely exhausted.
“Today has been a hard day for Kaydin,” the post read, “She had to be completely sedated and on a paralytic because her lungs are still so so sick, she has a leak in her chest tube and will have a valve placed on Wednesday to fix it.”
The family launched a GoFundMe page on February 3 to help cover medical expenses, asking for prayers and warning others about the dangers of the flu.
“I can’t stress enough how dangerous the flu is, how fast pneumonia can become deadly in hours, how the body can go into septic shock in seconds and your whole world becomes completely destroyed,” the page reads.
The family said in the GoFundMe that what started as a flu, quickly turned into running fevers, until the 13-year-old was coughing and fatigued, and eventually had trouble breathing so much that the color in her face changed.
Though Amanda Valdez was not immediately available for comment, the mother shares regular updates on her daughter’s condition with the public. Members of the community have also come together to help organize a fundraiser and silent auction for the family as they cope with the costs of the unexpected tragedy.
“Words do not even begin to describe what we are feeling and having to tell your child she is going to lose her limbs are feelings that are unimaginable,” she said after her daughter’s surgery. “She is the strongest person we know and she has overcome so much this milestone will not hold her back.”
This article originally published at San Antonio-area teen fighting for her life after flu leads to amputations.