7-Year-Old Boy Loses Legs After Complications from the Flu

A 10-year-old boy and his family are speaking out about the dangers of the flu after he lost both of his legs from complications that stemmed from the virus.

Kaden Stevenson was 7 years old when he contracted the life-changing case of the flu in December 2022, according to Families Fighting Flu. 

At first, his mother, Michele Stevenson, noticed he was feeling sick and chalked it up to a cold or a stomach bug. However, four days later, his condition worsened and he began to complain about pain in his right leg. His grandmother alerted Michele that he was getting worse, which is when Michele discovered Kaden’s leg was swollen and he had a rash across his body.

Michele took her son to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich. The boy was then airlifted to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich., where a pediatric orthopedic surgeon was planning to relieve the leg pain. 

Kaden was immediately diagnosed with the flu and strep. He went into toxic shock because of a complication of the flu, which caused bacteria to enter his bloodstream. Michele told ABC News, they “ended up finding out he has strep, flu and he was septic.” Kaden’s heart, liver and kidneys began to fail due to toxic shock.

Doctors first removed dead tissue from Kaden’s right leg, including his entire calf muscle. Two weeks later, he was told that both legs needed to be amputated because the infection had gone into his bloodstream.

Kaden’s right leg was amputated above the knee, and his left was amputated below the knee. He then went to the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital for four weeks of recovery. He will still need surgeries as he continues to grow.

During Kaden’s recovery, Michele told WZZM that the family was “so unsure of how life was going to look.”

The rehab facility “helped him build his confidence and showed him that anything was possible,” she said. 

“The main thing for me was just my son regaining his confidence and his independence, and he was able to do that with his care team,” she told the outlet. 

“Never give up,” his mom said, according to WZZM. “That’s like the biggest thing. Never give up. Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.”

Following his diagnosis and surgeries, Kaden and Michele have worked with Families Fighting Flu to raise awareness about the dangers of the flu. The organization works to “improve awareness and education to help support getting people vaccinated and bringing awareness at how serious the flu can be,” the group’s executive director, Michele Slafkosky, said, according to WZZM.

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In partnership with Families Fighting Flu, Kaden created a comic book focused on his alter ego, Kaden Blaze. The character was inspired by his true story and has several fact sheets to help raise awareness. 

Both Kaden and his mother want to raise awareness on the importance of parents vaccinating their children. Kaden told WZZM, “I wanted to help people and keep them safe.”