Kaydin Baldwin’s family is raising money for a wheelchair-accessible van
NEED TO KNOW
- Texas teen Kaydin Baldwin spent 117 days in the hospital and underwent three limb amputations to survive life-threatening flu complications
- Her family is raising funds for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle after their van broke down amid her recovery
- Supporters worldwide have rallied around Kaydin as she works toward rehabilitation and getting fitted for prosthetics
A teenager with the flu spent more than 100 days in the hospital after the illness caused her to become critically ill. She had three limbs amputated to save her life, and now her family is rallying around her.
Amanda Baldwin told Kens5 her daughter Kaydin, then 13, had “multi-organ failure, 117 days in the hospital, she coded for two minutes.” Kaydin’s flu had progressed to strep pneumonia — and then necrotizing pneumonia. It’s a rare but life-threatening complication that devastates the lungs, causing “liquefaction of consolidated lung tissue,” and “tissue necrosis,” the National Library of Medicine explains.
As Amanda previously shared, Kaydin began showing flu symptoms on Jan. 23, telling KHOU-11 that “she started getting fever, chills and body aches.” From there, her condition spiraled: The teen developed blood clots and sepsis, a potentially fatal condition when the body responds improperly to an infection. The only way to save her life was to amputate both legs and her right arm on March 17.
“I drew my strength from her every day to continue to be by her side and not cry in front of her,” Amanda told Kens5. Although Kaydin remains hospitalized in Houston, she’s working on moving forward. She’s doing inpatient rehabilitation and will be fitted for prosthetics — and she just celebrated her 14th birthday…