Harlingen Texas Woman Judy Trunnell Dies Of Swine Flu (Photo/Video)

Posted on May 6, 2009

Judy Trunnell, a 33-year-old schoolteacher who had just given birth to a healthy baby girl, was the first American to die with swine flu. Read more about this story below.

Judy Trunnell died after spending two weeks in the hospital. Judy had slipped into a coma, and her baby was delivered by Cesarean section.

“She was just a beautiful person, warm at heart. She worked with disabled children as a teacher,” Judy’s cousin,Zamora said. “Those that knew her will always remember her.”

Trunnell died early Tuesday after being hospitalized since April 19, said Leonel Lopez, Cameron County epidemiologist.

The only other swine flu death in the U.S. was of a Mexico City toddler who also had other health problems and had been visiting relatives in Brownsville, near Harlingen. He died last week at a children’s hospital in Houston.

Judy Trunnell lived in Harlingen, Texas, a city of about 63,000 near the U.S.-Mexico border, and taught in the Mercedes Independent School District about 15 miles west of her hometown.

Trunnell went to her doctor in April 14 and was hospitalized on the April 19, after complaining of difficulty breathing and was put on life support.

Doctors knew she had a flu when she came in, but did not know what kind, Lopez said. The area is undergoing a Type A influenza epidemic right now, and swine flu is one variety of that, he said. She was confirmed to have swine flu shortly before she died, he said.

Dr. Joseph McCormick, regional dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health’s Brownsville campus, said the woman was extremely ill when she was hospitalized.

Mercedes school district officials announced that it would close its schools for the rest of the week and reopen Monday.

Our condolences to the family and friends of Judy Trunnell.