Mom: 3-year-old 'making phenomenal progress' after nearly dying from flu
A 3-year-old Wisconsin girl who almost died from the flu is back home playing with her siblings.
"She's making phenomenal progress," Avaya Braatz's mother, Anita Braatz said.
About a month ago, Anita and Cedric Braatz thought their daughter, Avaya, had a cold. Then, she became unresponsive. The girl spent almost four weeks at Children's Hospital fighting the flu.
"Her left lung had collapsed," Anita Braatz said. "She was fighting for her life at that point. Three different occasions we almost lost her."
Her parents stayed by her bedside, praying and singing.
Avaya turned a corner, and her family brought her home on Valentine's Day.
"We have her home, and it's the best feeling, knowing what she went through. She made it," Cedric Braatz said.
Avaya still needs physical therapy, but hearing their little girl talking is music to her parents' ears.
Braatz had one bit of advice for other parents: "Take them to the doctor. Don't wait."
It will take about a year for Avaya's lungs to heal.
has been set up to help pay for her medical bills.