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H1N1 death alarms family of local man
Nanaimo resident dies after week in a hospital coma
By Derek Spalding, The Daily NewsDecember 8, 2009
Nanaimo's Frank Plut died on Friday after a two-week battle with the H1N1 influenza virus that has killed nearly 50 people in B.C. Members of his family want to know why doctors did not prescribe him the antigen Tamiflu when he first arrived at a clinic on Nov. 20.
The 45-year-old man's death has sounded alarm bells for his friends and family, who now strongly support health officials in the call to immunize everyone in the province by Christmas.
Plut did not get a vaccination, even though the six-foot-five, 450-pound local business man had fit the bill for the provincial guidelines that put obese people on the priority list early on in the largest immunization program in Canadian history.
People have questioned the validity and even scoffed at the amount of attention it receives from news media. Those same critics say this particular strain, formerly known as swine flu, is far less severe than the regular flu virus, but infectious disease experts have explained all along that H1N1 has so far targeted a much younger demographic and has sometimes taken the lives of perfectly healthy young adults.
Plut's friend Arnie Marks says there may be some confusion out there about who needs to get the shot. He had no intentions of getting vaccinated until the last few weeks when he had to watch his friend's painful bout with the virus. As he and family members organized Wednesday's funeral services, Marks went to the public immunization clinic at Mount Benson Elementary School and got his shot.
Plut is the second Nanaimoite to die from H1N1. The other reported case was a three-year-old girl who died Nov. 19.
"So far in Nanaimo, we've had a baby and a giant die from this disease," said Marks. "It doesn't matter who you are, how big or how small, you can still get H1N1."
Family members gathered at a friend's home last night, offering each other support as they look ahead to their final farewell on Wednesday. Part of the time, they were a bit frustrated.
Plut went to a local health clinic on Nov. 20 and explained that he was sick. Just days prior to that, an employee came into work and asked for time off because doctors had confirmed that this person had H1N1. When Plut got sick, he took no chances and went straight to a clinic. He was sent home and told not to go to work, according to Plut's sister Ruth Tingstad, who now lives in Westbank, just outside Kelowna.
"The doctor sent him home with nothing," she said. "He was a high-risk case to begin with because of his size. The fact that they didn't give him anything is outrageous. I just don't understand."
But beyond the frustration, the family has vowed to spread the word about the importance of getting a vaccination. Tingstad doesn't want people to see a family member or loved one die before they are convinced that the H1N1 threat is serious.
"It has no discriminatory boundaries. Everyone should get their shot," she said. "And, if you are sick, stay home."
Plut went to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Nov. 27 and doctors kept him overnight. The following day, friends were visiting when doctors transferred Plut to the intensive-care unit and put him on life support. He was in a coma and eventually shipped to Victoria General hospital on Dec. 1.
Doctors were confident he would survive. He would remain in a coma for at least four weeks and would suffer tremendous weight loss. It would take him months to recover from the body mass he would shed, but the outlook was good. Then a call to his family in Nanaimo came at about 1 p.m., while they were preparing a birthday celebration. The doctors wanted to see the family because they were having a difficult time stabilizing Plut.
By 1:30, while the family was driving south on the Trans-Canada Highway, he died.
"We go to the hospital and I knew something was wrong when they said they would come out to see us. It wasn't too difficult to see where it was going at that point," Tingstad explained. Despite what appeared to be obvious, his sister remained optimistic.
"You kind of knew what was going to be said, but there was still a shred of hope. There's always that thread of hope," she said before she couldn't hold back the tears. "It was the saddest thing to see, to watch your mother say good bye to her son, to see her go up to him, rub his head and say: 'Be a good boy.'"
Plut is also survived by a teenage son.
DSpalding@nanaimodailynews.com
? Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
H1N1 death alarms family of local man
Nanaimo resident dies after week in a hospital coma
By Derek Spalding, The Daily NewsDecember 8, 2009
Nanaimo's Frank Plut died on Friday after a two-week battle with the H1N1 influenza virus that has killed nearly 50 people in B.C. Members of his family want to know why doctors did not prescribe him the antigen Tamiflu when he first arrived at a clinic on Nov. 20.
The 45-year-old man's death has sounded alarm bells for his friends and family, who now strongly support health officials in the call to immunize everyone in the province by Christmas.
Plut did not get a vaccination, even though the six-foot-five, 450-pound local business man had fit the bill for the provincial guidelines that put obese people on the priority list early on in the largest immunization program in Canadian history.
People have questioned the validity and even scoffed at the amount of attention it receives from news media. Those same critics say this particular strain, formerly known as swine flu, is far less severe than the regular flu virus, but infectious disease experts have explained all along that H1N1 has so far targeted a much younger demographic and has sometimes taken the lives of perfectly healthy young adults.
Plut's friend Arnie Marks says there may be some confusion out there about who needs to get the shot. He had no intentions of getting vaccinated until the last few weeks when he had to watch his friend's painful bout with the virus. As he and family members organized Wednesday's funeral services, Marks went to the public immunization clinic at Mount Benson Elementary School and got his shot.
Plut is the second Nanaimoite to die from H1N1. The other reported case was a three-year-old girl who died Nov. 19.
"So far in Nanaimo, we've had a baby and a giant die from this disease," said Marks. "It doesn't matter who you are, how big or how small, you can still get H1N1."
Family members gathered at a friend's home last night, offering each other support as they look ahead to their final farewell on Wednesday. Part of the time, they were a bit frustrated.
Plut went to a local health clinic on Nov. 20 and explained that he was sick. Just days prior to that, an employee came into work and asked for time off because doctors had confirmed that this person had H1N1. When Plut got sick, he took no chances and went straight to a clinic. He was sent home and told not to go to work, according to Plut's sister Ruth Tingstad, who now lives in Westbank, just outside Kelowna.
"The doctor sent him home with nothing," she said. "He was a high-risk case to begin with because of his size. The fact that they didn't give him anything is outrageous. I just don't understand."
But beyond the frustration, the family has vowed to spread the word about the importance of getting a vaccination. Tingstad doesn't want people to see a family member or loved one die before they are convinced that the H1N1 threat is serious.
"It has no discriminatory boundaries. Everyone should get their shot," she said. "And, if you are sick, stay home."
Plut went to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Nov. 27 and doctors kept him overnight. The following day, friends were visiting when doctors transferred Plut to the intensive-care unit and put him on life support. He was in a coma and eventually shipped to Victoria General hospital on Dec. 1.
Doctors were confident he would survive. He would remain in a coma for at least four weeks and would suffer tremendous weight loss. It would take him months to recover from the body mass he would shed, but the outlook was good. Then a call to his family in Nanaimo came at about 1 p.m., while they were preparing a birthday celebration. The doctors wanted to see the family because they were having a difficult time stabilizing Plut.
By 1:30, while the family was driving south on the Trans-Canada Highway, he died.
"We go to the hospital and I knew something was wrong when they said they would come out to see us. It wasn't too difficult to see where it was going at that point," Tingstad explained. Despite what appeared to be obvious, his sister remained optimistic.
"You kind of knew what was going to be said, but there was still a shred of hope. There's always that thread of hope," she said before she couldn't hold back the tears. "It was the saddest thing to see, to watch your mother say good bye to her son, to see her go up to him, rub his head and say: 'Be a good boy.'"
Plut is also survived by a teenage son.
DSpalding@nanaimodailynews.com
? Copyright (c) Canwest News Service