UGA senior, 21, dies six weeks after stage 4 tumor diagnosis

A University of Georgia senior has died six weeks after she was diagnosed with a stage 4 tumor that caused a horrific brain hemorrhage during spring break in Mexico.

Liza Burke, 21, has been fighting for her life in recent weeks after doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed her with a grade four astrocytoma glioma, a malignant and aggressive tumor on the brainstem that grows rapidly.

Burke was vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with her boyfriend and 53 of his college brothers and their friends when she suffered a brain hemorrhage. Burke was rushed to a hospital in Mexico before being airlifted to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 10.

She has endured it daily for the past few weeks radiation treatments in hopes of shrinking the tumor, but a CT scan on April 13 revealed new bleeding in her brain. After meeting with doctors on April 17, the family made the painful decision to stop irradiation.

Liza passed away early on Friday morning. She was surrounded by family and friends, according to a post Liza’s mother, Laura McKeithen, wrote on posthope.org, a platform she created that shared daily updates on Liza’s condition.

“It is with both relief and conviction that I share Liza’s passing at around 2:20am last night,” McKeithen wrote. “Liza is now reunited with her sister and they are making up for lost time!”

Unfortunately, this was not McKeithen’s first loss of a child. In 2008, she and her ex-husband lost daughter Edie, aged 10, who suffered from a rare genetic condition.

Edie Burke died on May 2, 2008, just three months away from her 10th birthday.

Her mother told Mountain Express that Edie was born with a genetic condition called Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS-Type 1) and that the condition was diagnosed when she was 13 months old.

She said Edie loved music, her family, and the big purple dinosaur. In return, she was deeply loved by her family, friends and neighbors – by her community.

As Liza’s condition became more complicated, Liza’s courageous mom stayed in touch with DailyMail.com, sharing daily updates on her daughter’s struggle to survive.

It’s unclear how long Liza had the tumor, but her mother said the doctors told her it had probably been dormant for years, explaining that “the tumor became aggressive in a very short time.”

She said that around 2019 — around the time she entered college — her daughter started complaining of headaches and sometimes lightheadedness.

“Liza said maybe four times, ‘I think there’s something wrong in my head,’ and three times she told me she felt like she was going to pass out.”

But like most college kids, McKeithen thought it was due to sleep deprivation and the stress of college.

“I assumed it was a girl in her twenties who is under a lot of pressure. The way she said it—it was never a plea…it never seemed like there was anything urgent about it.”

The day before she had the brain hemorrhage, she was enjoying her spring break going cliff diving, enjoy a boat ride and a bonfire.

McKeithen recalled, “She felt great and she sent me a picture of her doing a handstand.”

The next day she got a huge headache after she finished working out at the gym. McKeithen said she told her boyfriend she was going to take a nap. When he went back to check on her a few hours later, he couldn’t wake her up and rushed her to the hospital.

When she got the heartbreaking news about her daughter, the doctors told her they had placed an EVD line in her brain to drain the fluid – but also told her they weren’t sure how much brain damage she had suffered.

McKeithen jumped on the first plane to Cabo San Lucas because her daughter had heart problems.

A series of events took place that led to many roadblocks in getting Liza out of Mexico and into the Mayo Clinic in Florida.

The medical trauma helicopter was unable to reach Mexico to airlift her daughter because the airport in San Diego was closed as President Biden was in town.

McKeithen raced against time to get her daughter the immediate life-saving medical care she needed.

‘You can’t make this up. It was insane. I have friends who had to call their friends who work for the FAA and who managed to get the plane off the ground.”

When Burke first arrived at the Mayo Clinic, her mother said she reacted quickly once the sedatives wore off — she pulled the tube away from her mouth and wiggled her fingers.

“In Mexico, the doctor said they would take her off the anesthesia to see if there was any brain activity. They weren’t expecting anything and had me prepared for that, then Liza deliberately moved and we were all stunned… total elation,” McKeithen said.

But a few days later she suffered a setback and stopped responding, and at some point doctors had ‘the talk’ preparing her for the worst, but miraculously, her daughter kept fighting.

There were days when Liza wiggled a toe, squeezed a hand, raised an eyebrow, and even wrinkled her lips for her mother to kiss—surprising doctors and delighting relatives, but as the weeks went by, the responses got fewer.

The family continued to pray and rely on their faith to get through the darkest hours and decided to end the treatment on April 17 and let her spend her last days in peace. And would soon start hospice treatment.

“Tom, Jack, my sister Anna, Bryan and I have spoken to several doctors and made the decision to stop the radiation and give Liza the goodbye she only deserves,” she said.

“Tonight we embark on the hunt for the perfect seaside spot where Liza can enjoy her last days, supported by the infinite love that surrounds her.

“If I could, I’d hold Liza and follow her here. 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 left in her wake.’

In the weeks that followed, new friends and old friends, Liza’s former hockey teammates and coach, and her beloved friend stayed by her side.

They laughed. They cried. They shared words of inspiration and continued to pray for this incredibly brave young woman, daughter, sister and friend.

In Liza’s mother’s latest entry, she wrote:

“After the movie ended, Bryan and I went upstairs to sleep while Jack slept holding hands with his sister.

‘Once he fell asleep and the only eyes on Liza were those of her ‘other mother’.

Liza took one last breath, sighed, and passed on to the next realm. Beane, the dog quickly sensed it and was downstairs when I was awakened.’

After the hospice was called, we dressed Liza in colorful pajamas, gifted by her boyfriend’s mom and Jack’s friend, Elli, braided her hair.

Liza’s father, uncle and some of my UGA friends came in to say goodbye.’

Liza’s mother told DailyMail.com that her daughter’s brain will be donated to science for future research and her body will be cremated.

They plan to celebrate a number of life events, including one in Athens, Georgia and another at a later date in her hometown of Asheville, North Carolina.

She also established the Foundation of the Carolinas for educational purposes on behalf of both her late daughters, Liza and Edie.

Part of the money will be used as a donation to the University of Georgia, and another part for Liza’s students in San Pancho, Mexico.