A teenager is learning to walk again after a nightmare respiratory illness left her bedridden in hospital. Kayla Jennings, 16, began to fill unwell two weeks ago as she faced difficulty in breathing while coughing heavily.
The virus has left her bedridden, unable to walk and struggling to speak as she lost all her motor skills as well.
Her mother, Casey Murphy told 7NEWS: “She couldn’t walk, couldn’t really talk, she couldn’t say anything, she lost all motor skills.”
The teenager has been receiving treatment at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
Tests have confirmed that she has influenza A.
The teenagers will start rehabilitation this week to relearn how to walk again.
Her family are still in shock that the flu “took everything away from her”.
They said they did not get around to having their flu vaccination this winter.
Influenza, or the flu, is a viral infection that causes symptoms such as fever and chills, sneezing, coughing and a sore throat.
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It can be deadly, with the infection recently claiming the life of a Perth toddler, in another instance.
Muhammed Saadiq Segaff, 3, went into cardiac arrest in hospital and, despite open-heart surgery, could not be saved.
Tests later confirmed, like Jennings, Muhammed had influenza A. He was the youngest flu victim in WA this year.
There have been almost 87,000 cases of influenza recorded in Australia in 2022.
Free flu shots are still available until the end of June in WA and Ms Murphy has urged parents to seriously consider them.
She said: “Please get your flu shot. It’s not worth it at all.”
