Parents hope Las Vegas boy’s flu death will serve as warning

Last Christmas at the Occhipinti household was a dream.

“We were happy, we were recording (videos) and opening presents,” said Brenda Occhipinti, 38, a mother of six who lives with her husband in northwest Las Vegas.

Three days later, the script flipped.

Her 12-year-old “goofy” son, Carlo Jr., or Junior for short, came down with a sore throat and fever.

When it didn’t go away by the next day, Occhipinti took him to his pediatrician.

“I figured if he has strep throat, then they might give him medication, antibiotics, to help,” she said Thursday.

The strep test came back negative, but Junior tested positive for the flu. The doctor sent them home with directions to take Tylenol and Motrin for the fever and drink plenty of fluids.

By 2 a.m., Junior’s stomach hurt. He was pale and nauseous, and his body ached, Occhipinti recalled.

By 7 a.m., he asked his mom for help getting to the bathroom.

“When I walked him to the bathroom, I told him, ‘Hold on to the door,’ because he was weak. He couldn’t really walk,” she said. “Next thing you know, he goes, ‘Mom, I feel dizzy.’ ”

Junior collapsed into his mother’s arms, blood seeping from his mouth. She called 911 and a neighbor and performed CPR until paramedics rushed him to the hospital. There, doctors attempted to revive him and pump blood out of his lungs, to no avail.

Junior was pronounced dead at 9:14 a.m. Dec. 30, two days before his 13th birthday, Occhipinti said.

“I don’t know what this flu actually did to him and his body,” his mother said. “We’ve never seen anything like it before.”

16 deaths in Clark County

Junior is one of the victims of a flu season that has caused 16 deaths in Clark County so far, compared with five last year, according to Southern Nevada Health District data released Friday.

The upturn in cases has filled waiting rooms in the Las Vegas Valley. Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center has seen a roughly 10 percent increase in overall ER visits, largely because of flu-like symptoms. At University Medical Center, patient intake this winter is up about 20 percent from last year.

Health experts recommend that everyone get a flu shot, except for babies younger than 6 months and people allergic to the vaccine’s components.

Even though the shot is less effective against the more virulent and deadly H3N2 strain predominant this year, it can help dampen symptoms in those who contract it, and it provides “herd immunization” for the most vulnerable, including children under 5, adults over 65 and people with certain chronic health conditions.

“It’s by far not too late to be immunized,” said Dr. Joe Iser, chief health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District. “We know the vaccine isn’t as good a match this year, but it’s your best protection.”

Experts say the flu shot can’t cause the flu, but that worry kept Occhipinti and her husband, Carlo Sr., from getting their children vaccinated. And Junior had been sick with the flu before and recovered just fine.

Now they’re going to research the vaccine before deciding whether to immunize their kids, Carlo said. Either way, they want to warn parents to take their children to the ER immediately if they show signs of serious complications from the flu.

“If you feel that gut feeling, do what you gotta do. Go to the doctor,” he said. “Don’t wait.”

An artist, musician

A month after Junior’s death, the Occhipintis rely on photographs and videos of their late son to remember him.

“He loved to do imitations of people, so he had this little Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation he’d do,” Carlo said. Like his mother, he was an artist, he said, drawing cartoons and Transformers.

Junior suffered from Marfan syndrome, a genetic mutation affecting the connective tissues in the body. It can result in elongated limbs and an enlarged heart.

But the Occhipintis said Junior’s heart was checked in mid-December and appeared to be growing normally. They don’t think Marfan syndrome had any role in their son’s death.

Junior couldn’t play sports, though he was a die-hard Dodgers fan and swam with his mom “like fishes in the summer,” Carlo said. He also was an avid trumpeter and dreamed of becoming a video game creator.

For his birthday, his parents had planned to give him a set of drums that the family was going to pick out together.

Now they mourn the milestones they’ll never see.

Teaching him to shave was the first thing that came to his father’s mind. “Watch him graduate, take him to learn how to drive,” he added. “For him to come to me and tell me about his first kiss, his first crush.”

He also hoped one day that Carlo Jr. would pass his name to his own son.

Brenda takes some comfort in knowing her face was the last thing her young son saw.

“I guess I was the first thing he saw when he was born, and I was the last, and as painful as it sounds, I’m kind of glad that it was me,” she said.

‘Telling us that he was OK’

Around 300 people attended Junior’s visitation and funeral in early January. Brenda said she was overwhelmed with love shown by teachers, doctors, friends and family.

It poured rain that day, and a fog descended over the cemetery as Brenda and Carlo buried their oldest son, surrounded by their five other children.

“A little bit after the services and everything, everything started clearing up,” Carlo said.

The sky turned a purplish-pink. A double-rainbow glowed overhead, and the light was so intense that it seemed to be coming from inside their home, Brenda said.

Junior used to love the image of a painted sky, she said.

“It’s almost like he was telling us that he was OK,” Brenda said. “That he was happy.”

Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.