A Perth teenager has to learn to walk again after being bedridden in hospital with a nightmarish respiratory illness.
Kayla Jennings’ heartbreaking battle was sparked when she contracted the flu.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Teen to learn to walk again after nightmarish flu battle.
Watch the latest news and stream for free 7plus >>
The illness has left her bedridden, unable to walk and having difficulty speaking.
Kayla, 16, became unwell two weeks ago and was soon having trouble breathing and coughing heavily.
But the worst was yet to come.
“She couldn’t walk, couldn’t speak properly, she couldn’t say anything, she lost all motor skills,” her mother, Casey Murphy, told 7NEWS.
Kayla is in Fiona Stanley Hospital with fluid in her brain and tests have confirmed she has influenza A.
She will start rehabilitation this week to learn to walk again.
Her family is still in shock that the flu “took everything” from her.
They said they didn’t get around to getting the flu shot this winter.
Influenza, or flu, is a viral infection that causes symptoms such as fever and chills, sneezing, coughing, and a sore throat.
It can be deadly as the infection recently claimed the life of a Perth toddler.
Muhammed Saadiq Segaff, 3, suffered cardiac arrest in hospital and was not saved despite open-heart surgery.
Tests later confirmed that Muhammed, like Jennings, had contracted influenza A. He was the youngest flu victim in WA this year.
In 2022, nearly 87,000 cases of influenza were recorded in Australia.
Free flu shots are still available in WA through the end of June, and Murphy urged parents to give it serious thought.
“Please get vaccinated against the flu. It’s not worth it at all,” she said.
