A trip to Mexico for spring break ended with brain surgery for a University of Georgia student.
Liza Burke’s mother, Laura McKeithan, said the UGA student suffered a brain hemorrhage that required immediate treatment.
What started as a migraine on the last day of her spring break trip to Cabo turned out to be much more serious.
Four days ago, Burke was taken to a hospital in Mexico and diagnosed with a brain condition that causes hemorrhaging and required emergency surgery.
Burke landed early Tuesday morning on a medical transport to Jacksonville, where she’s now being treated at the Mayo Clinic.
“I asked her to squeeze my hand. She did. And I was just... My feeling was elated,” McKeithan said of finally having her daughter back in the U.S.. “We are told, you know, we can only take things one day at a time and not to get our hopes too high but to have plenty of hope.”
Burke was originally scheduled to arrive back in Atlanta over the weekend, but when it comes to needing a medical transport, the process can take days.
McKeithan said even the medical staff in Mexico wanted Burke to get out of the country as quickly as possible.
“The doctors there were so caring and really wanted her to get back to the states because they felt that is where she was going to have the best care,” McKeithan said.
Burke is slated to graduate in May, but her family said her road to recovery is just beginning, and McKeithan had only one request.
“Just say prayers,” she said. “Prayers for Liza.”