Brogan Brunker paused once, twice, and a third time.
He removed his glasses, tried fighting back tears, then realized it was futile.
“Sorry,” Brunker said several seconds after regaining his composure. “This is tough.”
And how.
Back in August, Brunker appeared to be in the best shape of his young life.
Brunker, now a junior at Middleton High School, was playing AAU basketball. Brunker was preparing for a football season packed with promise and potential.
Then, Brunker was struck with Lemierre's syndrome, a disease that affects just 1-in-1,000,000 people and has a mortality rate between 4 and 12%.
Brunker almost fell into that category, suriving a procedure in which his heart had to be re-started and doctor’s gave him a 25% chance to live.
“He defeated death,” Middleton football coach Tim Simon said.
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