Young mother dies in her sleep from the flu

Surely you can't die from the flu can you, especially if you are young and healthy?

Yes you can because it happened to British woman Rachel Richardson who was living the dream on the Gold Coast with her husband and two little children - Kate 4 and Anna 18 months.

Her husband Gareth said his wife had a runny nose and a sore throat, but nothing to suggest she had anything other than the normal mid-winter cold.

The day started like any other - Rachel woke up on Wednesday morning with flu-like symptoms.  Because his parents took the girls every Wednesday, they agreed she should stay home in bed and rest. But after he left the house, she changed her mind, had a shower and went off to work.

Rachel and Kate

She managed to get through a couple of meetings but feeling worse, she phoned her husband to tell him she was going home sick.  But he missed the call.

She went home, make herself a cup of tea, put a pie in the oven, got out of her work clothes and lay down.

Baby Anna

After work Gareth picked the girls up from his parents' place and headed home.  But as soon as he pulled into the driveway he knew something was wrong.  There were no lights on and the house was filled with smoke.

He raced in to find the pie burning in the oven.  He switched it off and found his wife deceased on their bed.

For two months the family had no idea what had happened but doctors finally found the cause - her death was caused by bacteria from her cold entering her bloodstream.

So what does this tragic case mean for the general public with flu-like symptoms, should we be concerned?