‘Fierce’ UGA senior with brain tumor will spend final days in ‘perfect place,’ family says
UPDATE: Liza Burke died in the early-morning hours of Friday, April 28, her mom told McClatchy News in an email. Her death came a little over a week after her family decided to stop treatment for her brain tumor.
The original story continues below.
The family of Liza Burke, a University of Georgia senior, has stopped treatment for her brain tumor and she is spending her final days with loved ones, her mother said.
After Burke failed to respond to treatment, her family “met with several doctors and made the decision to cease radiation and pursue providing Liza a send-off like only she deserves,” her mom, Laura McKeithen, said in an April 17 journal entry posted online.
“Tonight we begin the hunt for the perfect place by the sea where Liza can enjoy her final days supported by the infinite love that surrounds her,” McKeithen wrote. “If I could, I would hang onto Liza and follow her. But since I can’t, please continue your prayers for our Sleeping Warrior and for all of us who will never fully fill the void that will be left in her wake.”
As of April 25, Burke was alive and spending time with loved ones.
“Another beautiful day as Liza brought our little crew closer together enabling us to each play a role in her care,” McKeithen wrote in a journal post. “We took turns repositioning, preparing and delivering meds, suctioning, and telling stories, and in response Liza shared her love through squints and facial gestures.”
Burke is an Asheville, North Carolina, resident and attended the University of Georgia.
Liza Burke’s story
While on spring break with friends in Mexico, Burke developed an unusually painful headache on March 10, McClatchy News reported. She left breakfast to rest and hours later was found unconscious in her room.
Burke was rushed to a hospital after friends were unable to wake her. On March 14, Burke and her family made it back to the United States and she was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
Originally, doctors diagnosed Burke with a brain bleed caused by an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) — a tangle of blood vessels that causes arteries and veins to be connected wrong.
However, on March 28, preliminary biopsy results revealed that Burke was suffering from a grade 4 astrocytoma tumor.
Also known as a glioblastoma, this tumor is “the most malignant, aggressive and common” type of astrocytoma, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. The tumor is a “highly aggressive cancer” that progresses quickly.
Friends described Burke as “genuine, dynamic, playful and fierce,” according to a GoFundMe started by a family friend.
“Liza amazes me daily with her ability to do this dying thing with bountiful courage, grace, and beauty, but PLEASE shout out your prayers for Liza’s peace and comfort because it looks hard,” McKeithen wrote in an April 24 update.
“Liza exemplifies all the good in this world, wrapped into one beautiful, kind, selfless and smart lady,” one person commented on the post.
“To some of you she may be a stranger, but to so many on UGA’s campus she is a friend,” another friend wrote on Facebook.
This story was originally published April 26, 2023 at 11:35 AM with the headline "‘Fierce’ UGA senior with brain tumor will spend final days in ‘perfect place,’ family says."
