DENVER – One Denver family knows just how dangerous the flu can be this season. Their 7-year-old son, Fin, spent one week in the pediatric intensive care unit at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children fighting off a life-threatening case of influenza B last month.

The boy’s mother, Dr. Mindy Banks, said his situation deteriorated quickly.

“His left lung, which was partially collapsed, had then completely collapsed overnight, so it was really terrifying,” she said.

Doctors had to perform a procedure to remove a large mucus plug from Fin’s chest, and then he finally started to feel better.

“It was completely life-threatening. Without all the support that he got in the ICU, he wouldn’t have survived,” Banks said.

Fin has asthma. He is also allergic to the flu shot and was not vaccinated. But that is something his family and doctors at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children recommend.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of kids coming in with fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches,” said Dr. Christine Darr, the medical director of the pediatric emergency department.

Darr is seeing a lot of flu B, and says it’s not too late to protect yourself with a shot if its recommended for you.