CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (WCMH) — Life can change in an instant as an Ohio family knows all too well after 4-year-old Locklynn fell into a coma after developing severe complications from the flu.
“I will be honest, I never took the flu serious until now,” Clayton Shaffer, Locklynn’s great-uncle, said. “After I seen what it did to my own family, it opened my eyes.”
Locklynn is now out of her coma, but in a mere matter of days, she went from a happy-go-lucky girl to a shell of her former self.
“To see a four-year-old’s life just get stolen from her is hard,” Shaffer said.
Bradley Boler, Locklynn’s father, said the family is living in a real-life nightmare.
“Just watch out for your babies,” Boler 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.”
Boler said that on Feb. 21, Locklynn tested positive for the flu. A few days later, things took a turn.
“She got up and said, ‘I can’t breathe’,” Boler said. “I was like ‘It’s okay’. She was taking her nebulizer and her steroids like the doctor had told us.”
Boler said Locklynn got up to use the bathroom early in the morning.
“I was awake with her because I was afraid to go to sleep and she just collapsed,” Boler said. “Right there on the ground, right in front of the bathroom door.”
Boler’s baby girl had to undergo three rounds of CPR and was life-flighted to Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
A young girl with the entire world at her fingertips instead found herself in a coma after suffering brain damage from losing oxygen to her brain. Her dreams of becoming a cheerleader and attending school, all cut short.
“I had 20 different backpacks in my Amazon cart that she had tried to pick out,” Boler said.
Doctors said Locklynn will never walk, talk, or eat on her own again.
“Yes, she survived, but we also are mourning the Locklynn that we knew because she won’t ever be like that again,” Boler said.
Now, her family has an urgent message for the community.
“If you have any thoughts about not vaccinating your kids for the flu, I beg you guys to do it,” Shaffer said. “I wouldn’t wish this on my own enemy.”
Data from the Ohio Department of Health shows flu numbers are high across the state, with 410 hospitalizations in central Ohio alone last week.
“The doctors have told us a thousand times every kid reacts to this flu differently, especially this one,” Boler said. “So, people have got to take it serious. I don’t want anybody else’s babies dying.”
Locklynn’s family is hopeful she’ll get released from the hospital soon.
“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” Boler said. “Who knows what she’ll be able to do in five years from now, or what kind of technology is available in five years from now.”
Boler said they’re facing more bills than ever before, as they look for a wheelchair-accessible van and make changes to their home. A GoFundMe has been set up to help them. You can purchase a shirt in her support here.
