A marathon running mum with no underlying health issues has tragically died from the flu in what doctors have described as a 'one-in-a-million' case.
Price Meropol McMahon, 36, from the town of Wellesley in Massachusetts passed away five days before Christmas after suffering complications from influenza, her family say.
A mother-of-two and a successful athlete, she had reported feeling feverish on December 19 before finding herself struggling to breathe the following morning.
By afternoon Price had been rushed to hospital, where she died only a few hours later.
Describing how staff at the hospital broke the news of her complications, her brother Ian Meropol told the Boston Globe: "The doctor’s words, I’ll always remember this..."
"‘This is a one-in-a-million case of influenza.’"
While flu kills an estimated 12,000 and 50,000 people in the United States each winter, it is exceptionally rare for a woman of Ms McMahon's age with no underlying health conditions to die as a result of contracting the virus.
Her brother revealed she had been training to run the famous Boston Marathon race for the first time next year around the time of her death, and had previously completed the New York Marathon in under four hours.
Mr Meropol described her as a "smart, hardworking, driven" woman who had been successful in her career, adding that it was ultimately her family that always came first.
Her 71-year-old father also paid tribute to his daughter, saying "she never talked about her successes in business, or running, or tennis" but instead was "100 percent family” oriented.
A GoFundMe page has now been set up to assist the family with costs involved in her passing, and has already easily passed its funding goal by raising $152,548 in five days.
Back in the UK, under-pressure hospitals have reported a massive surge in flu admissions this winter, with cases more than 4,000% higher than a year ago.
