8-year-old girl has survived eight brain surgeries and fears for her favorite player when he takes a blow to the head

by Tom LaMarre

Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders have fans everywhere, but perhaps none quite like Brooklynn Reiter.

The 8-year-old from Forestbrook, S.C., has a rare, incurable brain condition known as hydrocephalus, and in fact is 2019 Ambassador for the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation.

Brooklynn, who has survived eight surgeries to drain fluid from her brain, is part of a family of huge Raider fans, and her favorite player is Carr, but she is concerned every time the quarterback takes a hard hit.

“(Brooklynn) worries every time he gets hit in the head that he’ll get ‘sick like me and need brain surgery,’” Reiter’s mother, Kristen, said.

Brooklynn, who watches the games in the family’s “Raider Room,” had plenty of opportunities to worry about Carr during the 2018 season because he was sacked a career-high 51 times.

Carr was touched when he heard about his young fan and mailed her this letter along with an autographed picture of himself:

Dear Brooklynn, I hope this letter finds you well. My business manager explained to me that you are am amazing 8-year-old that has had to overcome some very difficult odds.

Love you,
Derek Carr,
Oakland Raiders QB.

Hydrocephalus is a rare brain condition occurring at birth, affecting about one in every 500 babies.

Untreated, it can be fatal.

“Some people don’t know what the word means and they don’t know how to say it,” Brooklynn said.

The condition causes excessive fluid to gather in the brain, abnormally widening spaces in the brain and placing potentially harmful pressure on brain tissues.

And the surgery comes with no guarantees.

“Its scary,” said Brooklynn’s father, John. “You don’t really know what’s going to happen from one day to the next. The shunts (placed in the brain) on average have a 50 percent success rate. They either work or they don’t.”

So far, Brooklynn is 8-for-8, and in addition to cheering for Carr and the Raiders, she enjoys drawing, playing, music, singing and dancing. She hopes to act in school plays when she is older.

For now, her motto is the same as her favorite team’s: “Just win, Baby!”

Source:

NFL Super Star Derek Carr Makes Hydro Hero Brooklynn Reiter Smile!

Oakland Raiders Star Quarterback Derek Carr heard all about Brooklynn’s 8 surgeries, being named the female National Ambassador of Hydrocephalus Awareness, and her concern for him getting hit in the head and getting sick and needing brain surgery like her.

Brooklynn just received in the mail an autographed picture and letter from Derek Carr, which reads:

Dear Brooklynn,

Love you,
Derek Carr
Oakland Raiders QB

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — Like many eight year olds, Brooklynn Reiter spends her time drawing, playing music, and cheering on her Oakland Raiders.

“Because my dad likes them. And me and my dad watch them,” Brooklynn said.

Now, she’ll add another activity to that list: being a 2019 ambassador for the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation.

Hydrocephalus is a rare brain condition, affecting around one in every 500 babies.

“The fluid around your brain doesn’t drain on its own,” father John Reiter explained.

Brooklynn has undergone one surgery every year to clear the fluid.

“It felt weird at first. But whenever you fall asleep. It doesn’t feel that weird,” Brooklynn said.

As a parent, her father says its tough to see his daughter go through something so painful.

“Its scary. You don’t really know whats going to happen from one day to the next,” John Reiter said. “The shunts on average have a 50% success rate. They either work or they don’t,”

So far, Brooklynn’s shunts have been successful.

Now, her goal is to raise awareness about the rare condition.

“Some people don’t know what the word means and they don’t know how to say it,” Brooklynn said.

Her motto echoes her favorite team.

“Just win baby.”

Source:

8-Year-Old Brooklynn Reiter From South Carolina Selected as 2019 National Ambassador of Hydrocephalus Awareness for Incurable Brain Condition

First time we ever heard the word hydrocephalus was when I was 20+ weeks pregnant at a ultrasound. She was born on 12-31-10 and had her first ETV surgery at 4 days old.

After about a month she was back in surgery for another ETV attempt due to the first one closing. A month later she was in surgery again to place a shunt.

She has had 4 shunt revisions since then. The latest being just this past November 4th, you can find a more in depth post about that on my Facebook page.

Brooklynn has also had surgery to correct the nerves behind her eyes due to the pressure. So, she has had a total of 8 surgeries due to hydrocephalus.

She was also diagnosed with IS as a baby but has since been seizure free.

5-Year-Old Caleb Wiggs From Kansas Selected as 2019 National Ambassador of Hydrocephalus Awareness for Incurable Brain Condition

Caleb came into this world at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1lb 8oz and only 11 inches long. He spent the first 5 months of his little life in NICU. With many doctor visits and a lot of respiratory issues, Caleb spent a lot of time in the hospital. In October 2015 (20 months old) We were at our routine visit with his neurologist, when Dr. Christopher Smyser, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, looking at his chart noticed that his head had grown 4cm in 4 months.

He asked us to go to the Neurosurgery clinic and Dr. Limbrick would clarify what was going on. When talking to Dr. Limbrick he told us that Caleb had hydrocephalus and needed to have surgery as soon as possible. As a mom and dad of 4 other very healthy children this was some of the scariest news we could have been told. 18 days later we went in for his first brain surgery. On October 19th, Caleb had an ETV, (Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy), put in.

Everything was going great! On November 14th, Caleb had a 35 min long seizure and was life flighted to Children’s hospital, where he was intubated and sedated for 3 days and what put on an EVD, (External Ventricular Drain), until he showed no sign of infection. After no infection he had his first VP shunt put into place. This was such a blessing! Our little man spoke some of his first words while being in the hospital. On Christmas day, Caleb started running a fever.

While corresponding back and forth with his neuro-team, he had frequent visits to the hospital but we were told that he had 2 viruses which are like common colds and the fever was related to that. After roughly a month of being in and out of the hospital and a lot of antibiotics. The fever was still coming back. The team decided to tap into the shunt and test the spinal fluid. He had a critical infection and we were admitted back into the hospital.

They removed the shunt and he had another EVD placed again for several days until he was infection free for 48 hours. Then placed another shunt in February 2016. We have been so blessed to of made it almost 3 years and no shunt revisions. In the coming weeks we are facing another surgery, because Caleb has started building fluid up on his brain.