Philly Man Dies of Swine Flu, Complications
By TERESA MASTERSON
Updated 5:30 PM EST, Wed, Nov 18, 2009
A 26-year-old Northeast Philadelphia man died from swine flu that complicated by pneumonia Wednesday morning.
Kevin Hirsh, who’s father credited encouraging Facebook posts from strangers as the reason the sick man was hanging on for so long, died at 9:45 a.m. at Aria Torresdale Hospital.
Hirsh’s father, Michael, said that he made the decision to take his son off lie support after he suffered for two weeks with swine flu, complicated by pneumonia and other secondary infections.
Two weeks ago Kevin came home from his job at McDonald’s with a fever. Though he initially thought he was getting better, his fever rose drastically and he was rushed to the hospital and went on life support and went into an induced coma.
Kevin’s father credits hundreds of Facebook supporters with keeping the 26-year-old going for as long as he did, and said that their support saved his son’s life four times.
On Monday doctors said that Kevin only had a 10 percent chance of survival. Michael wrote on the Facebook page Tuesday night that Kevin’s lack of oxygen had done irreversible damage to his son’s brain.
Almost 1,000 people from around the world viewed Kevin’s Facebook prayer page.
First Published: Nov 18, 2009 5:14 PM EST
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