PLAINFIELD, Ind. (WISH) – Indiana mother Karlie Illg Slaven, 37, died from complications related to the flu, family members tell 24-Hour News 8.
Karl Illg, Karlie’s father, said she worked for Indiana University in grant management and spent the last week of her life caring for her husband and two sick children. Illg says Karlie had not received a flu shot this season due to a scheduling conflict at work. She always made sure to get her shot, he said.
“She took care of all of them,” said Karl Illg. “Then she got tired, she got rundown.”
Karlie was diagnosed with influenza Friday at a clinic and went to a hospital emergency room Saturday with serious symptoms. Illg says she was released but returned to the hospital early Sunday morning, unable to speak. Karlie was admitted the Intensive Care Unit with pneumonia and passed away early Monday morning.
“This can’t happen. She was only 37, had two little kids,” said Illg. “I shouldn’t have to write her obituary.”
Illg says Karlie’s husband had flown to Dallas, Texas Sunday morning on assignment with the National Guard but returned by 5 p.m. Sunday to see Karlie before she passed. Illg says a parent should never have to write an obituary for their child, and he would like to take out an ad in the newspaper every year urging readers to get their flu shot.
“Just prompt people to get their vaccinations and their shots, and get it taken care of,” said Illg. He knows if Karlie had gotten a flu shot, she may still have gotten the virus. But he says if any of that vaccine was effective, her body would have built up at least some antibodies that might have helped her fight her infection.
“Three of the four of them got sick,” he said, referring to Karlie and her children. “Three of the four of them had a shot. The only one who died was my little girl who didn’t get her shot.”
The Indiana State Department of Health reports January is the deadliest month for influenza this season, but warns the data doesn’t suggest flu season has hit in full force.