She got a flu shot, so when a local actress became sick, she thought it was just a cold. It turns out, it was much worse.
Now the South Boston woman is in the hospital and her fiancee is weighing whether to put their April 13 wedding on hold.
As Chelsea Schmidt fights for her life, the community in Boston's theater district - and beyond - is hoping to help.
Joe Ruscio met Chelsea Schmidt in an acting program at Emerson College. Today, they live in South Boston as part of an artist's program. Their lives and their love center around theatrical pursuits.
But just last week all of that came to a screeching halt.
Chelsea had received a flu shot, so when she became ill on Tuesday she thought she could muscle through a simple cold. By Thursday morning, however, she was admitted to Boston Medical Center.
"They instantly did x-rays and everything and they found out she had the pneumonia too," Ruscio said. "So flu and pneumonia, which was bad enough, but as time went on, they discovered this other disease: ARDS. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome."
Inside the lungs are small air sacks called alveoli. This is where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. When they fill with fluid, like they did for Chelsea, that process can't happen, and it quickly becomes a life-threatening situation.
Now, Chelsea is on life support, and the couple's April 13 wedding is in question. Close friends at the Boston Tea Party Museum where the wedding was set to take place say it's devastating.
"The two of them sort of inspire each other," said friend Stephen Chueka. "I hope they get through it. I think they can, she's an amazing, she's a strong person.
"They're a great couple, and no one deserves support more than they do," another friend, Conor Walsh, said.
Friends have donated to a GoFundMe account, and rallied around her with words and songs of encouragement, hoping she'll pull through.
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