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 New Jersey toddler says he was discharged from the emergency room after he was diagnosed with the flu; a day later, he died from the illness.

Giselle Castillo told ABC-7 that her son Isaias, 2, spiked a 101.2 degrees fever on Jan. 11. She brought him to the emergency room the following day, when staff diagnosed the toddler with the flu. Castillo says that they were sent home and advised to give Isaias Tylenol or Motrin. Isaias’ fever dropped slightly, Castillo said, before shooting up to 105 degrees that night. At that point, Isaias began having seizures.

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

Isaias hadn’t received his flu shot yet, his mother told the outlet, because he didn’t attend daycare. She says he was scheduled to get a shot 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. And as Castillo 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, he touched every single person he ever met, he was the center of attention wherever he went, anybody that met him … He was so humble. He was so kind, playful, so full of energy.”

The toddler is the first child to die from the flu in New Jersey this season. His death comes amid a spike in pediatric flu deaths during an ongoing surge in flu cases. The vast majority of newly reported cases are caused by 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.”

The family of a New Jersey toddler says he was discharged from the emergency room after he was diagnosed with the flu; a day later, he died from the illness.

Giselle Castillo told ABC-7 that her son Isaias, 2, spiked a 101.2 degrees fever on Jan. 11. She brought him to the emergency room the following day, when staff diagnosed the toddler with the flu. Castillo says that they were sent home and advised to give Isaias Tylenol or Motrin. Isaias’ fever dropped slightly, Castillo said, before shooting up to 105 degrees that night. At that point, Isaias began having seizures.

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

Isaias hadn’t received his flu shot yet, his mother told the outlet, because he didn’t attend daycare. She says he was scheduled to get a shot 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. And as Castillo 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, he touched every single person he ever met, he was the center of attention wherever he went, anybody that met him … He was so humble. He was so kind, playful, so full of energy.”

The toddler is the first child to die from the flu in New Jersey this season. His death comes amid a spike in pediatric flu deaths during an ongoing surge in flu cases. The vast majority of newly reported cases are caused by 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.”