Frightening Flu Story: Wyoming Teen Treated In Colorado 'Wasn't Getting Oxygen To My Brain'

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - Deaths from the coronavirus have now soared to more than 1,000 worldwide. Concern continues to grow, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also warning people not to drop their guard when it comes to influenza. The CDC estimates there have been 12,000 flu deaths in the U.S. alone so far this season.

A teenager from Wyoming has a frightening flu story. She spent more than seven months in Children's Hospital Colorado. For six of them, she was on life support. Her recovery is considered incredible.

"I never thought that I would get that sick," said 16-year-old Trinity Shores.

In 2018, Trinity was a healthy high school freshman, a soccer player and cheerleader. But that January, she got the flu, a case so severe it nearly killed her.

"Because my lungs filled up with fluid, so I wasn't getting oxygen to my brain," she told CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh.

Trinity was first seen in a hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming where she lives. Then she was rushed to Children's in Aurora.

"The first six weeks were crisis mode," said Lisa Payne, Trinity's mother.

Payne says her daughter was put into a coma. She was 14-years-old at the time. She was hooked to what is called ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. It is life support, an artificial lung to allow hers to heal.

"She had garden-size hoses sticking out of her stomach, she had side tubes, she had the cannulas through her neck," explained Payne.

Trinity had two open heart surgeries. She fought pneumonia, MRSA and sepsis.

"You have to be strong so she can be strong," said an emotional Payne.

Trinity was kept alive on the ECMO machine for six months.

"We think that Trinity is one of fewer than ten people to be on this long," explained Dr. Max Mitchell, her cardiothoracic surgeon.

"She's a tough kid," he said. "It was really an incredible recovery."

"I'm thankful to be alive, I'm thankful for my family," said Trinity.

Trinity and her mom used to think the flu was like a bad cold. What does Payne think now?

"I think that we get our flu shots," she said.

More than a year after leaving the hospital, Trinity says she still can't take deep breaths or run or play any sports. But she knows she's strong and she follows her personal mantra, "Stop whining, try harder."