‘I didn't think I was going to make it’: Anna Brown powers through illness with teammates, family by her side
The call was coming from inside the house—the upstairs bedroom, to be specific.
When JB Brown saw his phone ringing on Aug. 16 around 10 a.m., he was surprised to see his daughter Anna’s name on the other line.
“I’m downstairs and she’s calling me. She’s in her bedroom upstairs. And I’m like, ‘Why is she calling me?’” said JB. “She could just come downstairs.”
When JB went upstairs to check on Anna, he was shocked to find his daughter writhing in pain, unable to move her arms or legs.
“She’s like ‘Dad, I can’t move. I can’t get out of bed.’”
“I’d never felt like that before,” said Anna. “It really freaked me out. Because I was trying to move, and nothing was moving. I’d try my hardest to move my arms, and they would move a little bit, but every bit of small movement was just this excruciating pain. It was awful.”
CHASING A DIAGNOSIS
It started as a rash at volleyball practice.
Anna’s just a freshman at Greer High, but she already made the Lady Jacket varsity volleyball team over the summer. After just the fifth day of her freshman year, Greer volleyball coach Traci Farrington noticed a bright red rash on Anna’s leg during practice.
“She’d had allergies in the past and I was aware of that,” said Farrington. “I just didn’t want her to take any chances.”
“Coach Farrington called us and told us we needed to come pick her up because she had a rash on her leg,” said Anna’s mom, Jill Brown. “We didn’t think much of it. She sometimes has allergies, so we assumed it was related to that.”
But the rash slowly progressed. It reached other parts of her body and provoked different symptoms. Allergists, doctors, and blood tests all tried and failed to diagnose what was going on with Anna.
But when Anna woke up the morning of Aug. 16 in excruciating pain, JB and Jill knew something was truly wrong, and it was much worse than originally thought.
They checked Anna into the hospital the same day.
She could barely move or walk. Her rashes had begun looking like hives. Her throat was intensely sore. Constant chest pain and inflamed organs.
Blood tests were sent to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital which tested her ferritin level -- the amount of iron in one’s blood. The normal levels in young women are around 20-300 milligrams per liter.
Anna’s at the time? 21,000.
Doctors determined Anna was suffering from Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (SJIA). Fever, rash, swelling, and pain in the joints are all common symptoms. Anna’s complaints lined up.
Estimates show that between five to 15 kids out of every 100,000 suffer from SJIA.
“Juvenile obviously because she’s 15 years old, and idiopathic because they don’t know where it comes from,” explained Jill.
Anna smiled.
“Well, the doctors told me it’s called idiopathic because they’re idiots,” she said with a laugh. “They said they’re idiots because they don’t know where it comes from.”
FAMILY MATTERS
It’s October 5th now, and Anna’s back home. She sits at the end of the dinner table with both parents by her side. Anna’s wearing her black Greer volleyball t-shirt. Her dad sports a thick gray beard and ballcap; her mom wears a t-shirt with Christian worship lyrics.
Her nine-year-old little brother, Jack, has already popped in once to say hello with a shy grin.
For the Brown family, things are finally starting to feel a bit normal again. Anna’s diagnosis kept her in the hospital for 26 straight days. JB and Jill took shifts and constantly alternated days staying with their daughter.
Some nights were harder on her than others.
“I’ll be honest. There were some nights when I was in the hospital that I didn’t think I was going to make it,” said Anna. “I was feeling so hopeless. It was like ‘Why am I here? What’s happening to me?’ It felt like it was a punishment, like I had done something wrong.’”
“You don’t even think about sleep anymore, even though sleep is a necessity,” said Jill. “When she’s crying in the middle of the night and needs you to rub her leg, you’re doing that. She asked me so many times ‘Why is this happening to me?’ and all I could tell her is that it was a part of her story. God made her for this.”
Anna had only made it five days into her freshman year before her world turned upside down. The most heartbreaking loss for her, however, was the opportunity to be with her volleyball team and be on the court.
Without warning, her entire freshman season with Greer was stripped away.
“I was thrown out of volleyball because of this, and that’s like, my whole entire heart. It’s my favorite thing to do. Volleyball is almost like therapy for me,” Anna said. “Seeing all of my friends and teammates at the games, meanwhile I’m stuck at the hospital. It was awful.”
Even worse? Anna’s birthday was coming up on Sept. 11. She was going to be forced to spend it by herself at the hospital.
Her teammates weren’t about to let that happen.
The entire Greer volleyball team showed up to the hospital to support Anna during her recovery.
The entire Greer volleyball team — players, coaches, assistants — showed up at Greenville Memorial Hospital on Anna’s birthday to celebrate with her. Tate Davis, a senior on the team, helped the other girls make a gift basket with Anna’s favorite candies and a volleyball signed by the whole team.
It was all kept a complete surprise.
“It’s just so cool to know that I have such a support system with my team,” said Anna. “And I’m only a freshman on varsity, so knowing that I’ll have that support there for the next three years is great.”
“That’s just what our program is all about,” said Farrington. “[The surprise party] was all the players idea. Greer volleyball is a family, and when Anna tried out and made the team, she became part of that family.”
RETURNING THE FAVOR
After her teammates surprised her at the hospital, Anna wanted to return the favor.
She picked Sept. 14 to do it.
She had just been released from the hospital. Her first stop? Greer High School’s gymnasium. Her volleyball teammates were warming up to take on Eastside that evening.
“We texted Birdie Barbare, one of the assistant volleyball coaches, and she let Anna sneak in the back door to the gym,” said JB. “Anna came around the back, and when her teammates saw her, it was incredible.”
“Anna’s dad told me she was going to be coming, but I didn’t tell the team because I knew Anna wanted it to be a surprise,” said Farrington.
Anna surprised her teammates when she showed up to Greer’s Sept. 14 game against Eastside.
Farrington became emotional recounting the moment Anna’s teammates saw her walk into the gym.
“You can give a lot of lip service. But it was very obvious, when she walked in the gym and those girls got excited about her being there, that the love was real,” said Farrington. “She was truly a part of it, and they were truly grateful to see her. It just felt like such a blessing, for both Anna and the girls.
“I think it warmed Anna’s heart that they received her like that, and it also was so special to each of her teammates to see her out there again.”
Anna was introduced before the game in the team’s lineup for the first time. Her teammates — and just about everyone else in the gym — erupted when her name came over the speakers. She ran down the line of teammates and received high-fives from each of them.
And while Anna’s illness has forced her out for this season, it hasn’t stopped her from being the loudest cheerer from the bench each game.
She’s just thankful to be back with her newfound family.
“There were nights in the hospital where I’d be back at square one. My fever would shoot up or I couldn’t move again. I’d throw up all of the medicine the doctors were trying to give me. I was in so much pain, and I just wanted to go back home. I’d get close to being able to go home, but then I’d get sick again and have to start all over.
“It was dark. But I’m finally back now. And I really believe God gave me the strength and the power to get through it all.”