{"id":604788,"date":"2026-02-21T02:17:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T02:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/604788\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T02:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T02:17:18","slug":"high-school-student-dies-from-extremely-rare-flu-complication-family-says-wsb-tv-channel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/604788\/","title":{"rendered":"High school student dies from \u2018extremely rare\u2019 flu complication, family says \u2013 WSB-TV Channel 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. \u2014 A Paulding County high school student suddenly died this week.<\/p>\n

Bailey Cruse\u2019s family says she developed flu-like symptoms a week ago and was recovering at home when she suddenly experienced cardiac arrest. She later died at the hospital.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re speak with friends who knew Bailey for Channel 2 Action News at 4:00 p.m.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an extremely rare complication of the flu \u2014 something no one could have anticipated or expected,\u201c according to a family statement.<\/p>\n

[DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n

Cruse attended South Paulding High School. The school, which is on winter break this week, says it will have counselors available for students when they return on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we will honor Bailey\u2019s memory and cover her family and friends with prayer and support,\u201d school officials wrote. <\/p>\n

Cruse\u2019s family says they are grateful for the prayers and support from the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour kindness has meant more than we can ever express,\u201d the statement read. \u201cWe are deeply grateful for your continued prayers for Bailey, Brad, Erin, and our entire family as we navigate this unimaginable loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

TRENDING STORIES:<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the latest flu numbers released on Friday, there have been 196 flu-related deaths and 3,476 flu-related hospitalizations in Georgia since the flu season began on Oct. 4, 2025. <\/p>\n

[SIGN UP: <\/b>WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. \u2014 A Paulding County high school student suddenly died this week. Bailey Cruse\u2019s family says…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":604789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[260186,260185,218655,260183,221389,260182,210,260184,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-604788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-baily-cruise","tag-baily-cruse","tag-flu-cases","tag-flu-deaths","tag-flu-symptoms","tag-georgia-flu-cases","tag-health","tag-teen-flu-deaths","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116106221672686569","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}