Hayesville – It’s an unusual condition, one that is rarely diagnosed until catastrophe. But that’s what happened one week before Makenna Cook turned 24 years old.
As was her family’s custom, they attended Meadow Grove Baptist Church for a Sunday service on Jan. 8. They had just arrived home and were preparing for lunch when Makenna complained of a debilitating headache.
That’s one of the classic signs of a condition called arteriovenous malformation, a sudden acute headache. The pain was so sever she cried out to God to forgive her sins and asked for help.
Makenna then suffered an AVM aneurysm. In shock, and not knowing what had happened, the family rushed her to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga., where they diagnosed her condition as a congenital AVM rupture.
It was dire. She wasn’t expected to live, as hospital staff encouraged her family to say goodbye on Jan. 9. But Makenna wasn’t having any of it. By the next day – according to Karah Thompson from Peachtree Dental, where Makenna has worked since she was 18 – Makenna started showing signs of life.
Her brain was waking up. By Jan. 11, she was transferred from hospice care to the brain injury unit in the Critical Care Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.
Because her brain is recovering from such a dramatic event, she is not permitted any visitors, nor can hospital staff speak or touch her while in her room. They want her brain to rest from any stimulation as it heals.
Her church family is coordinating efforts to help the Cook family once they return home. Anyone wishing to provide meals or support can contact Meadow Grove Baptist Church at 828-389-9444. To financially contribute, visit the gofundme page Miraclesformakenna.