Nico Mallozzi, who began feeling ill Thursday, Jan. 11, traveled with his youth hockey team (the Norwalk-based Connecticut Roughriders) to a tournament in Buffalo that weekend, but did not play. He died Sunday, Jan. 14 at an area hospital after returning home to New Canaan. The cause of death was sepsis resulting from pneumonia, a complication of the flu, the New York medical examiner’s office said.
“Ten years of health, the kid never had a problem," Mimma Mallozzi, Nico's mother, told TIME. "He was like an ox.”
She added: “It caught (Nico) off guard. You have to be aware of your child.”
Nico's wake will be held at St. Aloysius Church in New Canaan on Sunday, Jan. 21 with Nico’s family receiving friends from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
His funeral will also be held at St. Aloysius Church, at 10 a.m., on Monday, Jan. 22. Burial will follow at St. John Cemetery in Norwalk.
lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to The USA Hockey Foundation, the philanthropic arm of USA Hockey: www.usahockeyfoundation.com.
There have already been more than 60,000 confirmed cases of the flu in the nation this season, about twice the amount from last year at this time, according to the CDC.
A complete list of advice from the CDC to avoid contracting or spreading the flu can be found here.
Click here to read the TIME Magazine report.
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