sweet jude

My friend, Karla, lost her 6 year old earlier this week.  My heart has been breaking for her and her family.  No parent should have to experience such a thing.  Tomorrow, I will attend my first visitation for a child.  Below is an article that was posted about her son in the local newpaper.


Six-year-old Jude Cotter died Tuesday at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, but his death was not linked to the flu.
The Lafayette boy developed a rare and sudden condition that doctors believe was linked to the Epstein-Barr virus — one of the most common human viruses and one that often develops into mononucleosis. In Jude’s case, the illness spread to his brain and caused viral encephalitis — severe swelling — that ultimately killed him.
“It’s something you don’t ever imagine happening to a 6-year-old little boy,” Karla Cotter, his mother, said Friday.
Cotter said whenever her son became sick it would pass within 24 hours or so. He was healthy and happy most of his life.
And while Cotter said there’s little, if anything, the family or doctors could have done differently in Jude’s case, she wants other parents to know he was not contagious and did not present any public health threat.
“I don’t think parents need to worry it’s going to happen to their kids,” Cotter said.

TSC reassurance

Jude was a kindergartner at Hershey Elementary School. Tippecanoe School Corp. Superintendent Scott Hanback said a schoolwide communication was sent by Principal Linda Fields following Jude’s death.
Counselors were available to meet with parents, staff and students, and an administrator from another TSC school has been assuming some administrative tasks to free up Fields to meet with families.
“In case there were any rumors or speculation about the cause of death, the school did issue a statement that basically said we do have a state law that mandates if there’s any type of reportable disease we’re required to report that to the county health department,” Hanback said.
“Should that need have prompted itself, we wanted to assure our parents that they would have been notified by TSC or the school if there was cause for concern.”
Despite what’s happened, Cotter said she doesn't plan to live in fear of germs or public settings with her other two children — Kane and Tessa.
“We’ll still send them to public school. We’re not going to live in a bubble,” Cotter said.
Her advice for parents: “Just love your kids. Cherish them. You don’t know when within a week they could just die.”