By Jamie Plunkett
Frogs Today staff writer
TCU freshman baseball player Murphy Brooks has been hospitalized since Monday with pneumonia and a life-threatening bacterial infection known as Lemierre Syndrome. In the above video, watch TCU head coach Kirk Saarloos provide an update on Brooks’ situation. You can find more updates and leave the Brooks family a message on the Instagram account they have created @murphysfight2022.
According to the National Institute of Health, Lemierre Syndrome is a “rare and potentially severe complication of bacterial infections that usually affects previously-healthy adolescents and young adults.”
“He’s always been the guy, since we’ve known him and he’s been committed to us, he’s always been the ring leader,” Saarloos said. “And he’s always been the guy to get people together and he’s always been the guy that’s always going to brighten up the room whenever he walks in it. So we’re looking forward to when, whenever it is, for him to be walking back into the room and lighting it up.”
Saarloos has visited Brooks multiple times in the hospital, as have his freshman teammates, and the TCU community as a whole has surrounded Brooks and his family in prayer.
Brooks initially began to to feel sick on August 8th, but tested negative for a variety of illnesses and began to feel better after being given antibiotics and a steroid. As Brooks travelled up to TCU to move in, he began experiencing pain in his neck and shoulder while staying overnight with friends in College Station.
Upon arriving on campus in Fort Worth, Brooks’ situation did not improve despite receiving more antibiotics, a prescription, and IV fluids, leading to teammates Justin Hackett and Jake Duer taking Brooks to the emergency room.
Brooks has been in the hospital ever since, coming close to being put on a ventilator, but has shown improvement over the past 24 hours.
