SEATTLE — Will Gardner, 34, became ill in February, and in less than three weeks, he was dead.

Gardner, of Camano Island, came down with H1N1 flu (swine flu) and died March 10, according to Dr. Roger Case, health officer for Island County Health Department.

It was the first reported swine flu death in Island County this flu season, but not the first in the state.

There have been 15 deaths from flu in Washington this flu season, which runs from early October until this spring, according to Donn Moyer, with the State Health Department.

Of those deaths, five were confirmed as H1N1 flu and an additional four possibly were caused by H1N1 flu, Moyer said. All but one of the patients had a pre-existing condition.

That wasn’t the case with Gardner, a well-known coach and board member with Stanwood-Camano Youth Football, Case said.

That Gardner was relatively young was not unusual, Case said, because H1N1 flu is more common in young people. He said their immune response is more active, and people can drown in their own fluids. Gardner contracted pneumonia, which led to his death.

Of the five deaths from that flu, four were in King County, according to the state Health Department. Three were men in their 50s, and one was a woman in her 60s.

Three strains of flu are circulating in the state this year: A(H1N1), influenza A(H3N2) and influenza B.

The King County Health Department said emergency-room visits for influenza-like illness — fever, cough or sore throat — is at or above the five-year average.

It also said the University of Washington virology lab had 64 positive tests for influenza in the week that ended March 12. Of those, 28 were H1N1.

This year’s flu vaccine protects against H1N1. Case didn’t know whether Gardner had a flu shot this year.

“It’s a very sad thing to happen to someone so young,” he said.

Posted on the Stanwood-Camano Youth Football website was this message: “Coach Will loved his kids on the team. His drive and tenacity will be greatly missed. We at SCYF know without a doubt that big Will would tell us Spartans to pick up your swords and shields, and fight on. We will do just that.”