If you're still not taking the current flu outbreak seriously and haven't been vaccinated yet, this next story might change your mind. A young man from Montgomery County died from the flu, less than a week after he fell ill.
The Pogoda family of Lansdale is an especially tight-knit family. Andrew Pogoda and his older sister, both adults, still lived with their parents, and celebrated Christmas together last month. Four days later, on December 29th, Andrew Pogoda caught what he thought was a cold.
Pogoda's sister Justyna told Fox 29 no one was especially worried. "He was sick, but he was still walking around doing things, you know. And then on Tuesday, it was on Monday or Tuesday, he literally did not get out of bed, so we knew he was sick, but reading about the flu, since it was the flu, what do you do? You sit at home," Justyna Pogoda explained.
Her brother did not have health insurance, so he didn't go to the doctor right away. "When he started to wheeze, I'm like, maybe you should go to the emergency," Justyna said she told her brother. "He's like, I'll be okay, I can wait another day." So he did.
But by the next day, when Pogoda finally made it to the hospital, his condition had deteriorated badly. His heart had stopped, but doctors managed to revive him. In a final bid to save his life, crews transferred him by helicopter to a larger hospital.
"He literally got off the roof and then he went into shock again," Justyna Pogoda explained. "And then they started doing CPR again, they just couldn't. His blood turned into acid, they said they couldn't save him."
That was on January third, five days after Andrew Pogoda fell ill. He was only 26 years old. Pogoda did have asthma, a condition experts say put him at higher risk when he caught the flu. But he never got vaccinated. "He didn't like getting shots," Justyna Pogoda said. "He just thought, whatever happens, happens."
No one knows whether a vaccine could have saved his life. A Montgomery County health official told Fox 29 a flu shot would have protected him against 90 percent of the flu bugs present in the county. But no flu vaccine is perfect.
Pogoda's sister does have this advice for the rest of us: "Go to the doctor as soon as you feel sick," Justyna Pogoda advised. "His last Facebook post was, I feel like I'm going to die. That was his last Facebook post. He was that sick."
Thursday, May 16 2013 11:50 AM EDT2013-05-16 15:50:32 GMT
Parents, ever wonder what kind of crazy stuff your kids are trying when you're not around? Some are harmless. But we'll show you a few that are really dangerous.
Parents, ever wonder what kind of crazy stuff your kids are trying when you're not around? Some are harmless. But we'll show you a few that are really dangerous.
Tuesday, May 14 2013 5:49 PM EDT2013-05-14 21:49:13 GMT
A Hollywood A-lister takes the world by surprise by opening up about a very private matter. Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday she chose to have a double mastectomy to lower her risk of getting cancer.
A Hollywood A-lister takes the world by surprise by opening up about a very private matter. Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday she chose to have a double mastectomy to lower her risk of getting cancer. Jolie's not the first woman to do it, but she may be the most high profile. Her decision is touching off a serious conversation about the preventive measure.
Friday, May 17 2013 6:08 PM EDT2013-05-17 22:08:49 GMT
A man in Montgomery County is determined to shock and disgust unsuspecting women, even if they're with their young children.If you were lucky enough to get outside Friday, to a place like the Perkiomen
A man in Montgomery County is determined to shock and disgust unsuspecting women, even if they're with their young children.
Tuesday, May 14 2013 5:49 PM EDT2013-05-14 21:49:13 GMT
A Hollywood A-lister takes the world by surprise by opening up about a very private matter. Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday she chose to have a double mastectomy to lower her risk of getting cancer.
A Hollywood A-lister takes the world by surprise by opening up about a very private matter. Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday she chose to have a double mastectomy to lower her risk of getting cancer. Jolie's not the first woman to do it, but she may be the most high profile. Her decision is touching off a serious conversation about the preventive measure.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 7:59 PM EDT2013-05-21 23:59:26 GMT
A man was critically injured Tuesday in New Castle by an explosion that happened while he opened an antique army ammunition box he picked up from his neighbors trash.
A man was critically injured Tuesday in New Castle by an explosion that happened while he opened an antique army ammunition box he picked up from his neighbors trash.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 7:37 PM EDT2013-05-21 23:37:43 GMT
Helmeted rescue workers race to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives.
Helmeted rescue workers race to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 6:01 PM EDT2013-05-21 22:01:25 GMT
Police sources say the two incidents now under investigation took place at Houston Hall, a student center and lecture hall, on Spruce Street in the heart of the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Police sources say the two incidents now under investigation took place at Houston Hall, a student center and lecture hall, on Spruce Street in the heart of the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 3:02 PM EDT2013-05-21 19:02:17 GMT
The death penalty could be the eventual reality for the drug kingpin convicted of killing 12 people. Kaboni Savage's sentencing hearings began Tuesday. While prosecutors claim that a prison isn't going
Sentencing hearings began Tuesday for drug kingpin Kaboni Savage.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 1:43 PM EDT2013-05-21 17:43:01 GMT
The Lehigh County District Attorney's office has charged a couple with conspiring to embezzle $854,497 from the utility account of the South Whitehall Finance Department between 1999 and 2012.Nancy Tonkin,
The Lehigh County District Attorney's office has charged a couple with conspiring to embezzle $854,497 from the utility account of the South Whitehall Finance Department between 1999 and 2012.Nancy Tonkin,
Andrew Pogoda thought he had caught a cold but later died of the flu. Pogoda died less than a week after he fell ill.
