A Raleigh eighth-grader has died of a rare flu complication

Skyler McCardle, an eighth-grader at GRACE Christian School in Raleigh, has died from a severe and rare complication of the flu, according to a CaringBridge blog post written by her family and first reported by ABC11.

Skyler died Friday after developing myocarditis, according to the post. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle. She underwent open heart surgery on Wednesday, the family wrote in the blog.

In their latest post on Saturday afternoon, the family cautioned against raising fear of the flu unnecessarily. “We do not want this to cause alarm within the community as this particular complication is not common nor the main reason for influenza complications,” the family wrote. “At this time what our family needs most is prayer and respect for our grief.”

More on the story is at ABC11.

This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 2:49 PM.