He was a happy, healthy sixth grader; that's why his sudden death is so frightening for families across KELOLAND.

It hasn't even been a week since Tyler Newville showed his first symptom of H1N1. It started with a mild fever on Wednesday. He stayed home from school on Thursday, went to the hospital on Friday and died of complications of H1N1 and pneumonia that night.

Since then, the state Health Department has been busy with calls. Parents want to know where and when they can get their children vaccinated. And that's exactly what Newville's parents hope people learn from their loss. They released a statement Monday urging people to get immunized and take every precaution to prevent getting or spreading H1N1.

The death strikes a chord with families across KELOLAND, but especially those of Newville's school mates.

Last week at this time, Newville was going to classes at Patrick Henry Middle School with his friends. Now his death leaves a lot of questions for parents of other Patrick Henry kids.

"They were shocked because they'd just seen him in school a couple days before this happened, like Monday," parent Todd Hoflock said.

"I instantly wondered if he had other health issues, but my daughter said he was only gone a few days from school,” Stephanie Neidhamer, also a parent, said. “I wondered how it progressed so quickly."

For whatever reason, a seemingly healthy boy was hit extra hard by a virus that thousands of other children have come down with. Parents say it's scary to think about, but the worst could happen to anyone.

"It's just making everybody aware of what H1N1 is,” Hoflock said. “You can be healthy one day and think you won't get it, then something like this hits."

And it also has parents double-checking their hygiene habits and talking to kids about why it's important.

"We need to be careful, need to check, wash hands, go to the doctor, stuff like that," parent Roda Weil said.