Builder’s scare a flu warning

A HOBART builder became so sick with influenza A and associated pneumonia he was placed in an induced coma in Hobart’s Calvary Hospital.

David Marshall said he drove himself to hospital on May 31 because he was struggling to breathe.

He woke up more than two weeks later.

“I had never had the flu before and am fit and healthy. I think that is why I survived,” he said.

But the 57-year-old lost 14kg during his stay in hospital and says it will take a while for his lungs to recover.

“I never realised flu could be so serious,” he said.

“I remember driving to Calvary but that’s it.”

Mr Marshall has since received a back-up flu jab and will make sure he is vaccinated every year from now on.

Both federal Health Minister Sussan Ley and Tasmania’s acting director of Public Health Services Mark Veitch have urged people to get protection before next month.