Queensland teenager opens up on horror flu that left her close to death
A Queensland teenager has made an incredible recovery after coming close to death while battling a horror flu.
Mercedes King, 14, from the coastal town of Mackay, has finally returned home almost three months after she was put in a coma on life support.
"She was very, very, very sick, they wouldn't say what was going to happen the next day, it was just hour by hour really," her mother Becky Seadon recalls.
The teenager was flown from Mackay to Brisbane four days after complaining of a sore throat.
As her condition worsened, Mercedes fell victim to a sting of illnesses including pneumonia, influenza B and sepsis.
"We saw lots of children in there with the same thing who didn't survive," Ms Seadon said.
The 14-year-old was one of 54,000 Queenslanders struck down this year, with a handful sadly not surviving the outbreak.
As time passed, Mercedes' organs were failing and she was placed in an induced coma.
But against the odds, she came out of her sedated state two weeks later and her recovery is being labelled as one of the most remarkable doctors have seen.
"When I was coming off my medication I saw an outline of an angel on the roof," Mercedes revealed.
"Someone was watching over her, someone was for sure," her mother added.
Her family will now help Mercedes through her recovery which includes antibiotics until December, ongoing physiotherapy and a tailor-made diet.
With a return to school on the horizon, Mercedes revealed a reunion with her closest peers was long overdue.
"I'm going to go visit friends and stuff soon," she said.
