A West Virginia nurse died of complications from the flu this week after being forced to receive a mandatory flu shot at the hospital she worked at.
Stacy Sparks died Sunday after catching pneumonia while battling the flu, the Williamson Daily News reported.
Healthcare workers in the U.S. are required by law to receive flu shots or risk being suspended or fired from their job.
President Trump recently announced that he is laying the groundwork to ban mandatory vaccinations in the U.S. so that needless deaths such as Stacy’s can be avoided.
Nypost.com reports: “My mom went from having the simple flu, to having full left lung pneumonia over night,” her son, Nathan Stowers, wrote on Facebook. “Please take care of yourselves. It’s not worth the risk.”
Stowers said he is urging others to take any flu symptoms seriously and visit a doctor at their earliest convenience.
“I want everyone to fully understand how bad the flu is this year,” Stowers told The Herald-Dispatch. “I want people to know exactly what the flu can lead to.”
In the wake of the 43-year-old’s death, Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards warned the community in a Facebook post about the “widespread and very dangerous” flu season.
“If you have signs of the flu, stay home — do not go to work or school or be around anyone,” Edwards said. “If everyone works together and thinks, we can slow down the spread of the flu.”
Sean Adl-Tabatabai