Student hospitalized with flu complications

Lillian Chason has been on life support due to complications caused by the H1N1 virus. Courtesy of the Chason family.

Freshman Lillian Chason is on life support at UNC Hospitals after falling sick with the H1N1 virus last month.

She has been undergoing treatment for complications from the virus since Nov. 20.

Her father, Eric Chason, said doctors are not sure why Chason’s case has been so severe. The majority of people who are infected by the virus recover without medical attention.

Eric Chason said his daughter was planning on returning home to Rhode Island for Thanksgiving.

Upcoming vaccine clinics in residence halls

The University will offer H1N1 flu vaccination clinics during the next two weeks. The intranasal vaccine will be administered. You must bring a photo ID and your insurance card.

Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Cost: A $12 fee is required unless students have the following insurance coverage: State Health Plan, BlueCross BlueShield, Partners, Aetna, Humana Gold, SummaCare, Advantra Freedom, Medicare Part B

Locations

• Today: Morrison Residence Hall, first floor
• Friday: Craige Residence Hall, green room
• Monday: Ehringhaus Residence Hall, green room
• Tuesday: Carmichael Residence Hall ballroom
• Wednesday: Granville Towers, Agora dining area
• Thursday: Ram Village and Odum Village, building 1 multipurpose room
• Dec. 11: Kenan Residence Hall parlor

How to help

Lillian Chason’s parents have created a Facebook group for friends and well-wishers
to follow her recovery.

Instead, the dramatic arts major’s parents came to her.

The Chasons’ daughter has been sedated throughout their stay, and her condition has only slightly improved. A machine is needed at all times to provide her with cardiac and respiratory support.

But Eric and Cate Chason, who have been using Facebook to regularly post reports on her condition, remain optimistic she will recover.

“There’s a change for the better that is profound, yet difficult to explain,” wrote Cate Chason, her mother and a UNC alumna, on the Facebook support group, “Prayers for Lillian.”

With more than 3,000 members and visitation to her hospital room prohibited, the Facebook group has served as a rallying point for the University community’s support.

“Her friends have been great, and the hospital has been excellent,” Eric Chason said.

Through the updates, her parents have informed the community of their daughter’s medical status — she is currently in serious condition — and of their outlook.

“As I write, I feel afraid to say these words, afraid that my perceptions are not really true, but as her mother I just know what I know,” Cate Chason wrote Tuesday.

Lillian Chason will continue on life support until her lungs can function without it. Until then, Eric Chason said there is only one thing to do.

“Right now, it’s just a matter of waiting,” he said.

Most who have contracted the virus have recovered without requiring medical treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and college students around the country have joked about the hand sanitizer bottles and face masks that have followed the outbreak.

But more than 300 people died from the virus between April and July of this year.

Eric and Cate Chason have said they welcome letters and cards and have thanked the community for their prayers.

“We hope that she will start to improve soon as … she kicks out the virus that is infecting her, but time is an important factor,” Eric Chason wrote on the Facebook page.

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.