KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — A Killeen teenager is fighting to have more of a normal life again at a hospital in Austin following a stroke and other issues.
16-year-old Eddie Frazier was in perfect health and doing what he loved, which including playing baseball — in the summer of 2023, all of that changed.
He started having medical issues pop up out of nowhere, from swelling under his eye to bumps on his face.
Doctors were treating it as allergies but the issues never seemed to really go away.
Fast forward, around six months later to March, he started having slurred speech after a ball game — his family took him straight to a local ER.
"We immediately got admitted because they said he suffered a stroke — both sides of his brain are infected."
"They have lesions on both sides of the brain which caused him to have slurred speech and then it just went down hill from there."
Eddie was later diagnosed with vasculitis, which his mother says caused the swelling of blood vessels in his brain.
He has partial vision loss, no use of his right arm, trouble walking because of his right leg and can’t speak, but he can understand people when they speak to him, however it can be hard for him to process that information.
The now 17-year-old has seen doctor after doctor and has received a variety of treatment including chemotherapy and steroids.
Eddie is currently at Dell Children Medical Center in Austin and receiving physical and occupational therapy.
His family says his doctors' goals are to get Eddie back to being independent before discharge.
As of right now, he is not able to put on his own clothes, feed himself or go to the bathroom by himself.
His mother Catherine says Eddie is improving everyday but doctors tell her Eddie is a unique case.
"As of now, they don’t know a cause — they’re still to this day trying to figure it out," Catherine said.
“But he’s not where he wants to be."
Eddie is expected to be discharged on October 10 — Catherine says doctors are getting equipment ready for him to go home with in expectation of his departure.
The family continues to seek additional information and support from other doctors and specialists.
The family does have a strong support system holding on to them tightly but they could use help with travel expenses and other financial obligations.
For a GoFundMe link, click here.
