Dripping Springs family urges others to vaccinate after flu nearly kills their father

AUSTIN, Texas - A Dripping Springs family is urging the public to get the Flu shot after their father ended up in the hospital. 

Scott Bradshaw fit the perfect bill of health, weighing 208 pounds, he carried about eight percent body fat. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle became a priority for Bradshaw a doctor told him he needed to drop weight.

Bradshaw and his family committed themselves to eating healthy and exercising regularly. "The flu does not discriminate it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter how healthy you are, it really doesn't matter,” said Leslie Bradshaw, Scott’s wife. “This is rare, the doctors said what happened to Scott is rare but it can happen, it can happen to anybody."
 
Leslie shaken and grateful detailed the first inclination something was wrong with Scott. Scott said he thought it was a cold, he had a bad cough he couldn’t get rid of. The couple went to the doctor and was told to remedy his symptoms but his symptoms became progressively worse.

Scott went to the doctor a second time and was told he had the flu and to continue treating his symptoms. Within 30-hours it became more difficult for Scott to breathe in the middle of the night.

He was rushed to the hospital.
 
Doctors told Leslie that Scott’s oxygen level was at 50-percent and that he needed to be intubated. "We could've lost him easily by 9 o'clock that morning he probably would've been dead and that really slaps you in the face when you realize you could've lost somebody because you didn't move faster," Leslie said.
 
Strapped to a bed surrounded by tubes, Scott was attached to an ECMO machine to help him breathe. Shortly after he was stable.

Doctors expected Scott would be in a coma for at least a month. 13-days later he was awake, alert and was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family in his hospital room. 
 
“I just kind of started progressing well, the doctors and nurses just kept coming in and saying we just can’t believe it, we just can’t believe it,” Scott said. “A day or two later I was able to get up, stand up, kind of rock back and forth on two feet and that was a big deal too.”
 
Scott was able to go home and continue his rehabilitation. "We've never felt there was a need to get the flu shot,” Leslie said. “I mean we felt like there was no reason to inject something foreign into our bodies that may make us feel sick and we really didn't understand the importance of it. This experience really has educated us on the importance of getting the flu shot."
 
Bradshaw has a long road to recovery ahead which doctors anticipate may take up to 6-months.

The family has set up a Gofundme to cover unexpected medical costs.