SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KOLR) — After a near-death experience from flu complications earlier this year, one Southwest Missouri man isn’t ignoring getting the flu shot anymore.
Loren Martin of Brighton got his flu shot for the first time ever at Hyvee’s Cox Health Clinic. Before, Martin never got a flu shot because of feeling invincible, but in February, he found out his immune system was no match for the virus.
When 50-year-old Loren Martin got the flu this past winter, he thought it was nothing he couldn’t handle.
“Stay at home with some chicken noodle soup and I would get over it eventually,” says Martin.
That didn’t happen. Within seven days, Martin was rushed to the hospital.
“By the time my wife had come home and found me, I was delirious on the front porch without air,” says Martin.
Martin’s flu turned into pneumonia and lung failure. He was put into a medically induced coma and didn’t leave the hospital until two months later.
“There were at least four different incidents that I probably shouldn’t have survived. I was the miracle patient,” says Martin.
This flu season, Martin’s not taking any chances.
“This arm is going to be sore tomorrow. Now it does take two weeks for the flu vaccine to be completely effective,” says nurse practitioner, Christina Snyder to Martin.
“Get your flu shot, it’s the number one thing you can do to prevent it. So far this season is just starting and we have seen a few cases already,” says Snyder.
The scar on Martin’s neck will always remind him of the trachea put in his neck while battling flu complications, but he says it wasn’t in vain if his story encourages someone to get a flu shot.
“If just one person, it saves their life, all of this would have been worthwhile,” says Martin.
Flu season is expected to last through March.
If you do get the flu, nurses say it can be less severe if you go to the hospital for treatment within the first couple of days of symptoms.