Flu season is still in full swing. We are still knee deep in winter weather, when sicknesses seem to be at their most potent. In certain places, the number of cases of the flu remain quite high, which is cause for concern, especially because we’re hearing stories of kids who are experiencing major complications as a result.
One Ohio family is speaking out about the dangers of the flu. Their young daughter became extremely ill, changing their entire lives. Now, they’re urging people to take the illness seriously.
More from CafeMom: 15 Must-Have Cold & Flu Season Products for Kids
The family of a 4-year-old girl named Locklynn is reeling after the girl tested positive for the flu. Because of complications from the illness, she ended up in a coma. Her father, Bradley Boler, spoke to WCMH, revealing that the girl tested positive on February 21, 2025. Days later, things would go from bad to worse.
“She got up and said, ‘I can’t breathe,’” he said. “I was like ‘It’s okay’. She was taking her nebulizer and her steroids like the doctor had told us.” He was up with the girl early in the morning. Then, when she got up to go to the bathroom, “she just collapsed.”
“Right there on the ground, right in front of the bathroom door,” Boler told the news outlet.
The 4-year-old went through three rounds of CPR before she was life-flighted to Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Soon, a lively preschooler who dreamed of being a cheerleader was in a coma. She suffered brain damage as a result of the lack of oxygen. According to doctors, Locklynn will never walk, talk, or be able to eat on her own again.
More from CafeMom: My Healthy Toddler Died From the Flu & He Is Why My Family Gets the Flu Shot Every Season
“I will be honest, I never took the flu serious until now,” Locklynn’s great uncle, Clayton Shaffer, told WCMH. “After I seen what it did to my own family, it opened my eyes. To see a 4-year-old’s life just get stolen from her is hard.”
Boler now has a serious warning for other parents and families. “Just watch out for your babies,” he said. “Take it more serious. If you feel like something is wrong, take them to the doctors. Even if it’s been 20 hours since you last took them. Take them.”
He’s fully aware of the ways his family has been fundamentally changed by Locklynn’s illness. “Yes, she survived, but we also are mourning the Locklynn that we knew because she won’t ever be like that again.”
Shaffer echoed Boler’s sentiments. “If you have any thoughts about not vaccinating your kids for the flu, I beg you guys to do it,” he said. “I wouldn’t wish this on my own enemy.”
According to the news outlet, Ohio Department of Health data shows flu numbers are high across the state. In the last week, there were 410 hospitalizations in central Ohio alone.
“The doctors have told us a thousand times every kid reacts to this flu differently, especially this one,” Boler told WCMH. “So, people have got to take it serious. I don’t want anybody else’s babies dying.”
As the family is facing mounting medical bills, a GoFundMe account has been set up for them. A shirt is also being sold to help benefit the family.
