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Local father dies after getting the flu

As the smell of chicken soup lingers in the air, the hum of a family's heartbreak hangs heavy in this home. "I still cannot believe it. I still think I'm am going to wake up, and everything is going to be fine," Roberto Montes's wife, Mirna Hernandez said.

A Houston family is now having to make funeral arrangements after a 55-year-old father of five died suddenly, just days after being diagnosed with the flu.

As the smell of chicken soup lingers in the air, the hum of a family’s heartbreak hangs heavy in this home.

“I still cannot believe it. I still think I'm am going to wake up, and everything is going to be fine," Roberto Montes's wife, Mirna Hernandez said.

An AC technician, Roberto Montes had diabetes, but other than that, he was healthy.

“He’s an ox. He was my superman," Montes's son, Abraham Hernandez said.

He was a superman to his five children who still can’t believe he’s gone.

"Tuesday, he went to the doctor because he was coughing and everything. They said he had the flu," Mirna Hernandez said.

Diagnosed with the flu, Montes got his prescription and went home to rest. Doctors told him he could return to work in three days, but by Thursday, he was worse.

“He couldn’t breathe, and he said I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t feel good," Mirna Hernandez said.

Mirna says she took her husband here to Houston Northwest Medical Center where doctors told them that he now had pneumonia and blood in his lungs.

“The tube wasn’t helping him, so everything down, down, down and he ended up dying," Mirna Hernandez said.

Doctors tried two blood transfusions, but it was finally a heart attack that look this seemingly healthy, happy man from his family.

“This is like a nightmare for me. I never expected it. Oh my God, I still cannot believe this is happening," Mirna Hernandez said.

They're a family who's now figuring out life without the man, who like so many others just got the flu.

“Stay home rest, drink lots of water, but this, this is different, you cannot. This is scary," Mario Hernandez, an uncle, said.

Between the medical bills and now the funeral expenses, it’s taking financial quite a toll on this family. If you would like to help, family members have set up a GoFundMe to help.

Related:

New study links heart attacks to flu

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