New Jersey Mom Whose 2-Year-Old Son Died of the Flu Recalls His Final Days: ‘I Will Never Be the Same’

The family of a 2-year-old boy in New Jersey says he was evaluated in an emergency room, diagnosed with the flu, and discharged — then died a day later.

Giselle Castillo told ABC-7 that her son, Isaias, developed a fever of 101.2 degrees on Jan. 11. She said she brought him to the emergency room the next day, where staff diagnosed him with the flu. According to Castillo, the family was sent home with instructions to manage his symptoms with Tylenol or Motrin.

Castillo said Isaias’ fever went down slightly after they returned home, but later that night it surged to 105 degrees. She said he then began having seizures.

“It was very traumatic. I was scared and I screamed for my husband to call 911,” Castillo told the outlet. Isaias was taken back to the hospital, where he died the following day.

Castillo told the outlet that Isaias had not yet received a flu shot because he did not attend daycare, but she said he was scheduled to get vaccinated later this month.

A friend of the family has set up a GoFundMe to help with “easing financial burdens so they can focus on their family and honoring his memory.”

“There are no words that can ease the pain of losing a child, and during this time of deep grief, the family is navigating overwhelming emotional and practical challenges,” the GoFundMe says. Castillo also told ABC, “I will never be the same, my children will never be the same, my family will never be the same.”

She described Isaias as “the light of every room,” adding that he “touched every single person he ever met” and was “so kind, playful, so full of energy.”

Health officials have reported that Isaias was the first child to die from the flu in New Jersey this season. His death comes as pediatric flu deaths rise during a broader surge in flu cases. The vast majority of newly reported cases are being linked to a variant of Influenza A (H3N2) known as “subclade K,” which was first detected in Australia over the summer, according to NPR.

Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the outlet that “a large surge” of cases follows “anywhere we detect this virus.”

“We just don’t have any sense of where [the upward trend] is going to stop,” he continued, adding that that’s “the big concern in most of the medical communities right now.”