Teen survives 107 degree fever from H1N1 flu


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SALT LAKE CITY — Christmas in March — that’s what 15-year-old Chace Fullmer got to celebrate a few days ago. And, besides getting the drum set he asked for, his favorite present was being able to go home after spending 11 weeks in the hospital.

Born with Down syndrome, Chace has a special spirit and happiness about him. He participates in the school choir, serves as the manager for the Woods Cross basketball team, and loves to help with his football friends as well. And he does it all with a smile.

“He’s like a sunbeam just shining brightly in the sky for you,” said his mother, Heidi Sano.

But a few days before Christmas, that light went dim. Chace had spent a couple of days home from school for what his parents thought was a common cold.

“The second day we ended up taking him to Instacare because he wasn’t getting better and they did a chest X-ray and they didn’t find anything so they sent us home with some cough medicine,” said Chace’s father, Jared Sano.

Not well, but still acting normal, Jared and Heidi didn’t think much of it. Until the morning they went to wake Chace up.

“He was barely breathing, but his spirit wasn’t there,” Heidi said. “His bright eyes weren’t there, and that was hard to take.”

They discovered that Chace had a fever of 107 degrees. They immediately called 911 and EMTs rushed him to the nearest hospital. Within a few hours, he needed to be flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Doctors said his only chance for survival was to be put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a heart and lung bypass machine.


To help patients like Chace, whose lives have been affected by Primary Children's Hospital, give generously to the KSL Radiothon at kslkids.com.

“The ECMO machine is in Denver, in California, and it’s in Salt Lake City,” said Jared Sano. “So we feel very blessed to be by Primary Children’s Hospital.

Jared said that first week was touch and go.

“His situation would change hour by hour. We would come back from grabbing some lunch and his room was filled with nurses and doctors and someone’s sitting on his leg because he’s started to bleed out as part of the process of this ECMO machine,” Jared said. “From that to him experiencing tremors and they’re thinking there may be some kind of seizures and strokes going on in the brain. So it was a very stressful week. One that was up and down.”

Being on ECMO usually comes with complications. For Chace, his lungs collapsed, he suffered kidney failure, and he lost all of his strength.

“It’s surprising to see how much, how weak somebody can get by lying in bed for two weeks,” Jared said. “At first, he couldn’t even move his finger, or the tip of his finger.

Tests confirmed that it all stemmed from the H1N1 virus. Chace’s parents said they had no idea the flu could be so serious. And they said they didn’t get the flu shots this year, but should have.

“It was devastating and it has been devastating to go through this," Heidi said. “But my child is alive, and I’m really grateful for that.”

They believe that Chace is a miracle. They believe he is alive because he was brought to Primary Children’s Hospital. They have nothing but gratitude for the doctors and staff who cared for their boy for the past two months and who have helped Chace get back to his happy self again.

“Chace has taught us many lessons through this experience, and for me, Chace always has a smile on his face or he’s willing to go and do whatever he needs to do,” Jared said. “He’s taught us a real lesson in perseverance and determination and just doing what you’ve got to do.”

To help patients like Chace, whose lives have been affected by Primary Children’s Hospital, give generously to the KSL Radiothon at kslkids.com.

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