PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – Kevin Baynes Jr., 7, was just like most little boys.
He loved eating pizza, playing with friends and fishing with his father, Kevin Baynes Sr.
"He was full of life and happy," Baynes Sr. said of his son.
Over the weekend, Kevin Jr. died after being diagnosed with the flu and strep throat.
His father says his son had not had a flu shot.
"He hardly ever got sick and this one time he gets sick and that's it. He's gone now. I don't know what to say," Baynes Sr. said.
Kevin was sent home sick from school Friday.
By Saturday, he couldn't walk.
He was taken to the ER, but was sent home with medicine.
His sister found him unresponsive in his bed on Sunday.
Dr. Nilay Patel works at Sovah Health's Mt. Hermon Family Practice and has not seen a significant increase in the number of flu cases so far this season compared to last season.
Patients' symptoms are more severe though.
"It's definitely concerning. Could it be something like global warming? Maybe. Is it true or not true? I don't know. There's definitely something going on, I think, globally and it does seem to be getting worse," Patel said.
This year's flu vaccine may not be doing much to change that.
"My opinion is, it's not really that good. So, if you are against it, if you've had side effects in the past, I would say no. Don't bother with it. If you've had no side effects in the past and it's not an issue for you, then take it," Patel said.
Kevin Jr.'s father said doctors told him admitting his son to the hospital may not have saved his life, nor would getting a flu shot prior to getting sick.
But now, Kevin Sr. says he's not going to take any chances with the rest of his children.
"Oh yeah, they're going to get flu shots," Baynes Sr. emphasized.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help with funeral expenses.
The Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office released the following statement Monday evening:
"On 28 January 2018 at approximately 8:06 AM the Pittsylvania County E-911 Center received a telephone call from the 300 block of Lonesome Pond Road in Hurt, Virginia.
The caller advised that their 7-year old son was not conscious, was not breathing and was in cardiac distress.
Rescue personnel and Sheriff’s Office personnel arrived shortly after receiving the emergency call.
The child was transported to Centra Gretna Medical Facility where the child was pronounced dead by medical staff.
Investigators learned that the child had become ill while with flu like symptoms at his school on Friday, 27 January 2018 and had received medical attention that same day.
The body of the child has been transported to Virginia’s Department of Health’s Medical Examiner’s Office. The results of the Medical Examiner’s report are pending.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family."