Boy Dies When His Sinus Infection Traveled To The Brain

Everyone experiences symptoms of simple colds and usually, they brush these symptoms off. However, you might take colds seriously now as a 13-year-old boy died from a sinus infection that traveled to his brain.

Marquel Brumley from Flint, Michigan experienced a headache and cold symptoms weeks before his untimely death. At first, the young boy was taken to an urgent care center in February due to simple colds.

The doctors who saw the boy said that since colds are caused by a virus, it will clear on its own.

Unfortunately, the boy’s health worsened. He then complained of severe headaches. During the several visits to the hospital, the doctors said he only had a migraine.

When he had one bout where he experienced piercing headaches, it was then that the doctors found out the boy’s brain has been already infected.

The sinus infection has traveled to the brain, causing several blood clots.

The doctors examined the boy’s brain with an MRI scan and found the clots. These clots could anytime lead to a stroke. He was rushed to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital where he had a surgery.

However, it was too late.

The boy suffered multiple strokes because of the infection and he never woke up again.

Marquel passed away a couple of days after.

Nicole Alexander, Brumley’s aunt, said:

“Marquel was healthy; he had no health issues at all.”

It was a total shock to Marquel’s family. The simple cold symptoms and headaches misdiagnosed by the doctors have led to the death of the young boy. Marquel is the offensive line for the Mt. Morris Panthers Junior High Football Team and he loves playing the trumpet. The family has set up a GoFundMe page for Marquel’s family.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is no need for the use of antibiotics for a sinus infection because it’s usually caused by a virus and can go away on its own. However, the patient should seek medical attention if the symtpoms worsened, the temperature has reached 100.4°F or higher, and the symptoms are not relieved by any medicine.

Alexander added:

“I think it is very important to express how serious a sinus infection can be, not to take them lightly or to blow them off.”