Ontario Boy, 13, Dies After Showing Flu-Like Symptoms

Source: CBC News

Posted: 10/27/09 11:45AM

Filed Under: Canada

It has been confirmed that a 13-year-old from Toronto has died of the H1N1 virus.

Evan Frustaglio, a minor hockey league player, died Monday evening at St. Joseph's hospital.

"Toronto Public Health is confirming the death of a ... Toronto resident from H1N1," the department said Tuesday in a news release.

It added that a news conference will be held in the afternoon to provide an update on increasing flu activity in the city.

"We're in pretty big shock here losing a 13-year-old boy who was as healthy as can be," Evan's father, Paul Frustaglio, told CBC News.

Earlier, an official at the Ontario coroner's office said an autopsy had not yet been done yet and it was unclear if the boy had any other underlying medical conditions.

Evan went from having minor cold symptoms to dying within 48 hours, his father said.

"It just happened real fast. We don't know what to do. We don't know what to say," he said. Visited clinic

Frustaglio said Evan initially complained of a sore throat and a developing dry cough on Friday night while away at a hockey tournament in London, Ont.

By Saturday night, he had developed symptoms that were more flu-like in nature and when over-the-counter medication wasn't helping with a fever, the family went to a walk-in clinic on Sunday afternoon, Frustaglio said.

"The physician listened to his lungs and assured us that everything is fine," Frustaglio said. "He is breathing normally, continue to give him the med … and keep his fever down and everything should be fine. Less than 24 hours later, my son is gone."

Evan collapsed after taking a bath on Monday and was taken to hospital.

"It hit my son like a lightning bolt," Frustaglio said.

There has been an outpouring of support and condolences from the community and the family is still trying to collect their thoughts before making funeral arrangements, he said.

'You will be missed'

A Facebook memorial page has been set up for Evan and had more than 280 members by Tuesday morning.

Posters on the memorial page remembered Evan as a fun-loving, helpful young man, a well-liked student and a skilled hockey player with the Greater Toronto Hockey League's Mississauga North Stars minor bantam AA team.

"R.I.P. Evan. Im so sorry that this happened, you will be be missed so much that it cant be expressed in words. You were a great kid," wrote Masha Petrasinovic on the memorial page.

The Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario sent an email to parents of players from the tournament confirming the death of a 13-year-old who had been at the games on the weekend. The youth died after suffering from a high fever and bouts of unconsciousness, the email said.

Two players from the youth's team are also being quarantined after showing flu-like symptoms, the email said, recommending that anyone from the tournament with similar symptoms see a doctor.

Precautions in place

Kim Sutherland, whose son played at the tournament on the weekend, said the death has left some hockey parents on edge.

"There is interaction at all levels of the hockey game and play out of the same complex at various times so … there is potential there for all sorts of exchanges of things," Sutherland said.

Sutherland said swine flu concerns won't affect her family's involvement in hockey.

"This can happen anywhere. It's among us now and we're just going to have to deal with it — can't bubble wrap them," she said.

With files from The Canadian Press

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