A four-year-old Ohio girl was told she may never walk again after her common flu symptoms led to cardiac arrest and caused severe brain damage. 

Locklynn Boler, aged 4, experienced a drastic deterioration in her health just three days after being diagnosed with Influenza A, according to her parents.

‘It’s like every day I wake up to the nightmare,’ Locklynn’s father, Brad Boler, 31, told ABC6.

The little girl, along with her two siblings, were diagnosed with the highly contagious viral respiratory infection on February 21 at a local urgent care.

The next day however, Locklynn’s symptoms worsened and she was having trouble breathing.

Growing concerned, her parents brought their daughter to a hospital where she was sent home with medicine and a nebulizer for breathing treatments, according to her father. 

However, a little more than 24 hours later, the little girl’s health began rapidly declining.

In the early hours of February 24, Locklynn collapsed and ‘went unresponsive’ on her way to the bathroom, according to a GoFundMe page organized by Locklynn’s aunt, Bethany Patrick.

Just three days after Locklynn Boler, 4, tested positive for Influenza A her condition dramatically declined into what her parents are calling a ‘nightmare situation.’ Pictured: Locklynn Boler on a ventilator at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio

The little girl, along with her two siblings, was diagnosed with the highly contagious viral respiratory infection on February 21 at a local urgent care

‘She jumped out of bed and ran toward the bathroom door, and then I heard a thud,’ her father, Brad, told the outlet. ‘I looked over, and she was laying on the ground.’

As four-year-old Locklynn laid unresponsive on the floor of her Chillicothe home’s bathroom, her mother, Haley Dyke, 27, with the help of Brad’s sister, performed CPR on the unconscious girl.

While the two women continued to provide life-saving care to little Locklynn, Brad rushed his daughter to a nearby hospital.

Upon arriving to the hospital, the preschool-aged girl coded and went into cardiac arrest. 

‘A parent’s worst fear is hearing a flat line on the hospital’s machines,’ Locklynn’s aunt wrote on GoFundMe.

After a couple of minutes – described as a ‘lifetime’ by her parents – medical staff revived the Locklynn’s pulse.

‘They had to do three rounds of CPR on her before they finally got a pulse,’ Brad said.

A medical crew then flew Locklynn to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus – 50 miles from Chillicothe.

However, even with the extensive life-saving care she was provided, an MRI revealed that due to the cardiac arrest, which caused her brain to stop receiving oxygen, the little girl obtained ‘severe brain damage’ that will affect her for the rest of her life.

An MRI revealed that due to the cardiac arrest, which caused Locklynn’s brain to stop receiving oxygen, she obtained ‘severe brain damage’ that will affect her for the rest of her life

‘They came in and told us that she had massive amounts of brain injuries,’ the devastated father said.

‘We were told she would never walk again, she would never be able to eat on her own again, never to be able to talk again, never be able to play with her sisters, brother or cousins,’ Patrick wrote. ‘The Locklynn we once knew is no longer.’

Brad said his daughter spent more than two days in a coma, but she’s awake now and off the ventilator.

‘The fact that she’s alive makes me hopeful, but when I just sit down and think about it, I get angry,’ he said. ‘But I think that’s just one of those emotions I’m still processing through.’

As Brad sits in the hospital with his little girl, he hopes her situation saves someone else’s life.

‘I used to be that kind of person that was like, ‘Oh, it’s the flu, you’ll be OK,’ he said. ‘I’m telling you this thing can take your babies away from you.’

In an update posted to the fundraising website on March 3, Patrick said her niece was ‘finally breathing on her own.’

‘Locklynn’s ventilator has finally been removed as of today and she is breathing on her own,’ Patrick wrote.

However, Locklynn’s upward trajectory ‘didn’t go as planned’ forcing doctors to place the breathing aid back in.

Now, her family said they are taking her situation ‘day by day, hour by hour’ as they continue to pray for her recovery.

‘We are still taking this day by day, hour by hour,’ Patrick said. ‘Please continue to pray for Locklynn and her family as we were hopeful she could remain off the vent, but that is just not possible right now.’ 

Jason Newland, a doctor who oversees infectious diseases at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, told KKTV that this year’s flu season hit a lot of people hard.

‘This influenza season has reminded us how severe influenza can be,’ he told the outlet. ‘This year was unlike the previous three years and it came after the winter holiday.’

He added that it is a good idea to see a doctor if your child is breathing fast, not eating well or drinking, or not acting right. 

Newland also said it’s not too late to get a flu shot.

The family is collecting donations via a GoFundMe campaign as well as collecting proceeds from ‘Locklynn Strong’ T-shirts which are also being sold to help support the family.