A student from the University of Georgia who was in Mexico for spring break and was diagnosed with a brain tumor has died.
Liza Burke was 21 years old, WSB-TV reported.
She was a senior at UGA, according to Action News Jax.
According to a GoFundMe fundraiser set up to help get Burke from Mexico to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for treatment, her mother, Laura McKeithen wrote, “Liza’s saga began while eating breakfast with friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Liza’a boyfriend discovered her unconscious after she lied (sic) down for a nap.”
Burke was originally diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, but then that diagnosis was changed to stage 4 astrocytoma tumor or glioblastoma and it was near her brain stem. They believe it was dormant for a long time before becoming aggressive.
[ From WSB: UGA student battling brain tumor, family and friends rallying with support behind her ]
“As they started to try to figure out what was going on – she became less and less responsive,” McKeithen told our sister station. “Your brain stem is where everything happens and as a result, that’s why she is not waking up.”
Burke underwent three rounds of radiation but the cancer did not respond to the treatment.
Her family moved her from a hospital to a home near a Florida beach while her friends and family visited with her and watched her favorite movies with her during her final days.
[ From WSBTV: Family of UGA student diagnosed with brain tumor spending last days near the ocean ]
She died at about 2:20 a.m. Friday while she held hands with her brother.
This wasn’t the first time the family had dealt with the death of one of their children, WSB reported.
Burke’s younger sister, Edie, died in 2018 from a rare genetic syndrome.
“Liza has now been reunited with her sister and they are making up for lost time!” McKeithen wrote in the announcement of her daughter’s death on GoFundMe.