When Ashlee Dahlberg’s 8-year-old son, Liam, came home from school with just a headache, she never imagined it would be the last evening they’d ever share.
By the next morning, Liam was barely responsive. The Indiana family rushed him to the hospital, where doctors made a horrifying discovery: Liam’s brain and spinal cord were covered in invasive bacteria.
He had contracted a rare and aggressive infection known as Haemophilus influenzae — commonly referred to as Hib.
It can cause upper respiratory tract infections, but it can also lead to serious and potentially life-threatening conditions like meningitis and sepsis.In Liam’s case, the bacteria quickly developed into deadly meningitis.
“At that point in time, that’s when there was nothing they could do,” Ashlee told WHTR. “Anybody that contracts it usually dies within 24 hours.”
Despite Liam being fully vaccinated, doctors believe he may have contracted the infection from an unvaccinated child— something that’s becoming more common as vaccination rates decline across the U.S.
A silent, fast-moving killer
Hib is not the flu, despite its name.
In Liam’s case, it moved rapidly —turning a simple headache into a fatal brain infection overnight.
Doctors performed an MRI and found that the bacteria had already spread too far.
“They discovered the amount of bacteria that was covering his brain and his spinal cord,” Ashlee said. “That’s when there was nothing they could do.”
“I would never wish this kind of pain on my worst enemy ever,” she continued.
“To have sat there and listened to the doctor say, ‘You did everything right, but there was just nothing we could do,’ and then to lay there with him as they took him off life support. And I could feel his little heartbeat just fade away.”
“Feel I have failed my Child”
Ashlee is now channeling her grief into a mission: urging parents to make sure their children are fully vaccinated against Hib and similar illnesses.
“There’s no words that can describe that pain,” she said. “I feel I have failed my child because I could not protect him from everything that would cause harm.”
According to pediatrician Dr. Eric Yancy, Hib was “absolutely devastating” before the vaccine was introduced in 1985.
