'She was not herself': Ottawa family shares daughter's experience with RSV at CHEO

An Ottawa family is sharing their painful experience watching their daughter struggle in the hospital with a respiratory virus.

A heartbreaking video provided by the family shows two-year-old Chloe Dion, struggling to recover from RSV at CHEO.

"We were just trying to get a smile on her face and just trying to make her feel better," said Jeffrey Dion, Chloe’s parent.

Her parents rushed her to the emergency room earlier this month with a high fever and laboured breathing.

“They said it’s going to be about a 14-hour wait," said Christine Clemeno, Chloe’s mother.  "It’s hard to see your kid like that."

Chloe was admitted to the pediatric hospital for four days, where she was diagnosed with RSV.

"You can see in her eyes that she was not herself," Dion said. "She was limp and she wasn’t saying anything, and for the first time I saw actual fear in her eyes because Chloe is a soldier and she overcomes everything."

The two-year-old is now recovering at home.

"She’s doing well, her energy is coming back, her appetite is coming back, and she’s doing much better," Clemeno said.

But her family is not taking any chances, and urging others to take precautions as respiratory viruses continue to circulate.

"We are encouraging mask wearing right now because we have to let the hospitals catch up and there’s a shortage in fever medication."