JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family of a 21-year-old University of Georgia student who lost her battle to a rare brain condition is reflecting on her final moments.
Liza Burke suffered a brain hemorrhage while on Spring Break in Mexico back in March. Her mother, Laura McKeithen, had her flown to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, where doctors discovered that Burke had a tumor growing on her brain stem.
Burke’s family was hopeful that she would pull through as doctors used aggressive efforts to shrink the tumor. Unfortunately, when radiation therapy could not stop the tumor from growing, it caused the family’s glimmer of hope to fade as Burke was placed in hospice.
“Quickly because of her tumor, she was not able to respond like she had been,” McKeithen said.
Her family told News4JAX that Burke spent her last days alive in a place she loved — by the water, surrounded by friends and family.
“She definitely perked up and I really think she enjoyed being here. Her last night when she was feeling well, we came out here and had a bonfire. She was sitting where you’re sitting with all her friends and all of us here,” McKeithen said.
Burke’s brother Jack Burke described what the last two months have been like for them.
“Hell. Very bad. Awful, but beautiful at the same time,” Jack said. “Death is ugly but it pulls people together.”
When Burke was a junior in high school, she and her mom traveled to a small Mexican town, where Burke volunteered to teach English to nine and 10-year-old Mexican students inside a community center. Liza’s mom said Mexico was her daughter’s favorite place to visit.
At 21, Burke had everything going for her. She was about to graduate college with a business management and Spanish degree. She also had a job lined up in Charlotte, North Carolina following graduation.
But...a deadly brain tumor ended her hopes and dreams of seeing that future.
While Burke is no longer here, her family said her legacy will live on like a never-ending flame.
“A lot of people have reached out to say we heard her story, and she sounds like an amazing and inspiring young person,” McKeithen said.
UGA invited McKeithen to attend what would have been her daughter’s upcoming graduation where she will accept Burke’s degrees.
In death, Burke will continue to advance medicine and education.
Her brain was donated to the Mayo Clinic so it can be studied for scientific purposes, and her eyes were donated to the Lions Institute for Eye Transplant and Research in Tampa.
“Collectively, we decided that she, and actually it was her brother, Jack, pretty much said she would definitely want to donate her brain to science. So, we did that,” McKeithen said.
Burke’s death comes years after her younger sister Edie died from a rare genetic disorder.
UGA will also honor Burke during a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night, which happens to be the same day as the anniversary of Edie’s death.
Their mom said the stories about their deaths have caused many people to reach out and offer help. So, the family created the Liza and Edie Burke Educational Fund.
“First, we’ll do an endowment to the University of Georgia. And we would also like to be able to provide funds to some of her students whom she taught when she was in high school that live in Mexico, to help them if they want to seek a higher education,” McKeithen said.