Incoming TCU freshman baseball player hospitalized with Lemierre’s syndrome

TCU baseball player Murphy Brooks is in the hospital battling a bacterial infection that is making it hard for him to breathe, according to Instagram posts by his family.

Brooks was admitted to the hospital early Tuesday morning with low oxygen levels, according to the Instagram posts. As of Thursday, he has started showing signs of improvement.

The family has asked for prayers for a quick recovery.

The infection has been identified as Lemierre’s syndrome, a severe illness caused by a bacterial infection that typically occurs in healthy teens and young adults, according to the Instagram posts.

The incoming freshman was hospitalized nearly a week after he was given antibiotics and a steroid for swollen tonsils, according to the family’s Instagram posts. The family chronicled a series of ups and downs as Brooks prepared to leave home for his first semester at TCU.

He left initially for TCU on Aug. 9, stopping in College Station to spend time with friends attending Texas A&M before he started complaining of aches, fever and a sore throat on Aug. 12, according to the Instagram posts. On Aug. 13, he was taken to an urgent care, where he was given a last steroid.

After a nap, the family said on Instagram, Brooks felt better and left for TCU. On Sunday, he spent time on campus but was later that evening taken again to an urgent care facility with spasming pain in his shoulder and neck and swollen tonsils.

His oxygen levels went up and down and doctors put Brooks in a position lying on his stomach to try and reduce the need for a ventilator, according to the Instagram posts. On Wednesday night, doctors saw improvement in his oxygen levels.

As of Thursday, Brooks has been able to lie on his back again for an ELG and no longer needed to wear a rebreather mask, instead having oxygen delivered through his nose.

The family said on Instagram that Brooks has started improving and doctors are saying he is headed in the right direction.