‘Doctors made me say goodbye’: Nine-year-old’s heart stops after getting the flu

Little Maxwell Hann contracted the flu, before he knew it his heart stopped beating and doctors were resuscitating him to try and save his life.

Maxwell Hann’s heart stopped beating on the operating table after the nine-year-old contracted the flu a few weeks ago.

He was revived 60 seconds later and placed in an induced coma where he stayed for a week fighting for his life.

There was even a point where doctors told Maxwell’s mum Arlene Smith to “say goodbye” to her little boy.

“No one has been able to answer the question, why did this happen to this child,” Ms Smith’s best friend for over 30 years Kimberley Lessue told The Advertiser.

“For this poor kid, it’s life changing, he will have some sort of complications from this.”

Maxwell Hann fighting for his life in an induced coma in the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. Picture: Supplied by family

The Brighton South boy was visiting his dad in Queensland when he started to feel unlike his bubbly self.

“He was getting upset with things he wouldn’t normally get upset with,” Ms Lessue said.

Eventually, the day he was meant to fly home he began throwing up and he couldn’t fly home.

Maxwell eventually flew home the next day and that night Ms Smith called the locum who told her to bring Maxwell to the hospital immediately.

Maxwell was only nine years old when his heart stopped. Picture: Supplied by family

Ms Smith rushed her son to Flinders Hospital where doctors said to bring him to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

It was there doctors discovered Maxwell’s organs were shutting down.

“His liver wasn’t working, his kidneys weren’t working, his heart wasn’t beating properly, and his lungs — he couldn’t breathe properly,” Ms Lessue said.

“Very quickly it turned from he’s not very well to all of his vital organs just starting to shut down.”

Doctors brought Maxwell into surgery where his heart stopped. They resuscitated him immediately, placed him in an induced coma and flew him to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.

“When the doctor said he’s got influenza A, that is what is causing this, for (Ms Smith) she was thinking well, what do you mean? People get the flu all the time, this doesn’t happen,” Ms Lessue said.

“For her it was really frightening and horrific … her whole world absolutely came crashing down, she was at a hospital with her child on life support … how does this happen?”

The nine-year-old was connected to an ECMO to support his heart’s repair. At one point doctors were considering a heart transplant.

“Doctors said he will continue … to need to have annual heart check-ups with a cardiologist, because there is a thick fluid around his from the damage,” Ms Lessue said.

Fluid was drained from Maxwell’s lungs for four days while he was attached to a respiratory machine.

He has also been forced to be on dialysis due to damage to his kidneys while his liver works to repair itself.

When Maxwell woke up from his coma he noticed his blood form.

“He said to the nurse ‘I must be very smart, I didn’t even study for that test and I’ve got an A plus’,” Ms Lessue said.

Maxwell has A positive blood type.

Maxwell Hann before his first surgery in Adelaide with influenza. Picture: Supplied by family

Maxwell Hann, whose heart stopped after he contracted the flu in July this year, fighting for his life in an induced coma in the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. Picture: Supplied by family

Maxwell spent 17 days in Melbourne before he came back to Adelaide. He was forced to stay in ICU another 11 days before he was transferred to the Cassia Ward, where he remains.

Unfortunately influenza has also caused mobility issues for Maxwell.

“He can’t move his legs, he can wiggle his toes a tiny bit,” Ms Lessue said.

“His left leg ended up in sepsis, it was black and twice the size of what it should have been. With physio and medication, they have managed to bring colour back to his leg and the swelling has definitely gone down but he still has no feeling or movement.”

At the moment Maxwell is hoping to gain feeling and movement back in his legs so he can walk again. He is also hoping to gain full movement back into his arms, which were also partially affected.

Maxwell was not vaccinated against influenza this season but Ms Lessue said doctors told Ms Smith, Maxwell’s reaction to the flu would’ve been the same even with the vaccine.

“He’s just that one in the a million people that it really attacks,” she said.

“He’s got no other prior health complications, he was a healthy nine year old boy.”

If you’d like to donate to Max you can here.

Originally published as ‘Doctors made me say goodbye’: Nine-year-old’s heart stops after getting the flu