JACKSON TOWNSHIP -- A family from Selinsgrove is enjoying the little things in life now that their teenage son is home from a three-month stay in the hospital.
Over the course of about 24 hours, Logan Hile of Selinsgrove was playing baseball and then on a ventilator with heart problems and kidney failure. But his parents tell Newswatch 16 they believe his good health before he got sick and the flu shot are what saved his life.
Logan is enjoying what most 15 year olds take advantage of: spending time with his parents and his brother at home. That's because Logan spent the past three months in the hospital.
"Just glad to be out of the hospital!" he said.
It was back on May 6 when Logan first started feeling sick. He felt tired and his body ached.
"He was begging to go to the emergency room, that something just didn't feel right," said Logan's mom, Jayme Hile.
Nobody knew what was wrong with Logan, so his doctor did all kinds of tests.
"It came back that he was Influenza B positive and was in some kidney failure."
Soon after that, Logan was at Hershey Medical Center on a ventilator with heart problems. Logan's mom, Jayme, says when they got to Hershey, the doctor had one very important question.
"'Please tell us this child had the influenza immunization,' and luckily, Logan did," she recalled.
So, if Logan got the flu shot, why did he get the flu? Jayme says the flu was going around school at the time,and while the shot protects against most strains of the flu, it didn't cover everything.
"His body was able to withstand the stress the influenza put on it."
Even so, doctors believe the flu shot, combined with Logan's good health, saved his life.
"Most likely Logan would have died not having the influenza shot. He probably would not even have even arrived from Geisinger to Hershey," Jayme said.
The Hile family says they're really grateful for all the community support they've gotten.
"I just want to see the community. I haven't gotten to see anybody in such a long time. I just miss seeing people," said Logan.
Now that Logan is home, he's doing physical therapy three times a week. His goal is to be well enough to go hunting this fall and play baseball again next spring.
