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Brookie Long, a 15-year-old outfielder for the Spokane Sliders (Washington) club team, was hospitalized last week with what was initially feared to be COVID-19, but on Friday was given a diagnosis of Rocky Mountain Yellow Spotted Fever.
She was air transported from Kootenai Heath Hospital in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to Sacred Heart Pediatric Intensive Care in Spokane, Washington where she was placed on a ventilator to help her breathe after her lungs filled with fluid.
According to her Sliders coach, Kirsten Flerchinger, “Brookie was on a hike about two weeks ago. They never found a tick bite, but blood work confirmed it (Spotted Fever) at 90 percent. At this point she is off the ventilator but is still suffering complications. We do not know when she will be out of the hospital or what the long-term damages will be. At this point, we are just ecstatic that she is alive and off the ventilator.”
Saturday, Brookie was awake and alert and according to her mother, Deborah, “almost back to herself.” The teenager started walking with assistance, but the bacterial infection was bad enough to cause a risk that she could lose some and she needed therapy for her lungs.
Saturday night into Sunday morning, however, she struggled with more fluid in her lungs and had fevers spiking as high as 104.2 degrees which, according to Brookie’s mother, is due to her ongoing fight against the Spotted Fever.
“The doctors say it’s part of her infection to continue having fevers for a bit but we are really hoping to see them go away. (It’s) so miserable for her. She also has some hearing loss from the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever but the doctors expect her hearing to improve over time. Her toes are blistering and we are treating them aggressively to save as much tissue as possible but overall she is strong and stable.”
Doctors hope the athlete can get out of Intensive Care soon, perhaps by Monday.
A GoFundMe page was created to help with Brookie’s medical expenses as her parents, Scott and Deborah, are unable to work at this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and her older brother, Scott, is also spending time with her. Both father and brother are firefighters.
Click HERE to go to the GoFundMe page
“Brookie’s love for softball started when she was 7,” her parents told Extra Inning Softball this weekend. “She found a bat and ball in her older brother’s closet and started by throwing the ball in the air to herself and hitting the ball and then started playing catch with her dad. She played some Spirit Lake Idaho girls Little League fastpitch, which became her starting point in playing.”
“Since then she played with a couple different teams in the Spokane area and found her place with coaches Kirsten Flerchinger, John Dressler and George Lynn, and the Spokane Sliders organization.”
Brookie has been with the Spokane Sliders organization since the fall of 2017, although she had played with many of the girls on her current team in some capacity prior to joining.
“She is a fearless outfielder, a triple threat from the left side, and unafraid on the base path,” says Coach Flerchinger. “Her headfirst slide into the bases is one of the smoothest I have ever seen. She is a fantastic teammate who has a smile that can light up any dugout!”
“In addition to softball,” adds her coach, “she competes in mountain bike racing and is a daring snowmobile rider. She is a lover of all things outdoors. Having her drive, humor, huge heart, and spunky personality has made a huge impact on all of our lives.”
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