What 13-year-old Marquel Brumley initially believed was a
common cold turned into a deadly infection — and his family is sharing the
boy's story to warn others just days after his death.
"Marquel was healthy; he had no health issues at
all," Brumley's aunt, Nicole Alexander, told Fox News.
The eighth-grader went to an urgent care in Flint, Michigan
when he started to notice cold symptoms. He was told it was a sinus infection
caused by a virus and would likely get better on its own.
"A sinus infection does not typically need to be
treated with antibiotics in order to get better," the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) explains on its website. "If you or your
child is diagnosed with a sinus infection, your healthcare professional can
decide if antibiotics are needed."
Brumley continued to suffer from the cold symptoms for weeks
and soon started to experience severe headaches.
He visited the emergency room several times. Each time,
doctors diagnosed him with a migraine and he was eventually sent home.
Last week, Brumley's pain was so severe he returned to a
local hospital for treatment. It was there that doctors discovered the sinus
infection had spread to his brain, causing multiple blood clots.
He was transferred to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann
Arbor, Michigan, where he was rushed into surgery. The teen suffered multiple
strokes due to the infection and was left in a coma.
"The doctors [did] everything they [could] to reduce
the pressure in his brain," Peggy Gilbert, another relative of the boy,
explained in a post on a GoFundMe page, which is raising money to pay Brumley's
medical bills and cover funeral expenses.
Brumley remained in a coma in "critical condition"
at the hospital. For days, doctors conducted tests to see if Brumley was
responsive, but there was no change.
"They are going to run three tests on him...to
determine if he is still with us or not, if he passes even one then he is still
with us, if he fails all of them, than legally he is gone," Gilbert posted
on Facebook on March 8. "So today I am praying for one breath, just
one!"
Three days later, Alexander confirmed Brumley did not take
his own breath and he died later that day.
Alexander was shocked by how quickly Brumley's sinus
infection turned deadly and hoped to share his story in hopes of preventing
families, like hers, from facing similar fates.
"I think it is very important to express how serious a
sinus infection can be, not to take them lightly or to blow them off,"
Alexander added.
The teen, a straight-A student who played football and the
trumpet in band, is being remembered as a "goofball," who "loved
helping people."
"He wanted to build houses, loved playing video
games...he loved his mom and sister fiercely, and was their protector,"
Alexander said.
Nearly 400 people have donated to Brumley's page, raising
more than $12,700 in just eight days.
"The love and support everyone has shown is
overwhelming and so appreciated. Marquel was a very kind and loving person that
will be missed terribly," Gilbert wrote in a recent update on the
fundraising page.
Alexander added that the family is taking comfort in knowing
Brumley was an organ donor, learning Thursday that he saved seven lives.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/03/16/boy-13-dies-after-sinus-infection-travels-to-his-brain-family-says.html
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