Flower Mound Teen Dies From Complications of Flu

Family and friends are mourning the sudden death of a 17-year-old high school student.

Max Schwolert, a senior at Flower Mound Marcus High School, died the day after Christmas during a family vacation in Minnesota.

Schwolert had to be admitted to a hospital there with complications from the flu.

"It started out as the flu, then went to pneumonia and a staph infection on top of that, so those three things combined and just took over very quickly," said Michelle Schwolert, his aunt.

She described her nephew as the picture of health -- 6 feet 4 inches tall, young and athletic.

"He was a healthy child," she said. "You can’t beat yourself up. How many times has your child had a cold and you just wait it out?"

Friends have been leaving tributes to Max Schwolert at Faith Lutheran Church, where his father is the youth ministry director.

"It's really hard. He was so young and just a really great kid," church member Sarah Wagner said.

"It kind of left me speechless," said her husband, Coleman Wagner. "I wish I had better words to describe it. Knowing how I feel, I can't imagine how Max's family feels right now."

The Schwolert family said he did not have a flu shot this year. While they don't know if it could have saved his life, they are advocating that everyone get one in light of his death.

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