Kennedy Kirsch, a 17-year-old high school student and athlete from South Dakota, was referred to Barrow by her doctor after a magnetic resonance angiogram revealed an unruptured brain aneurysm behind her left eye.

On May 22, Barrow Neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Spetzler performed a procedure known as aneurysm clipping. He opened Kirsch’s skull and placed a small metal clip at the base of the aneurysm to halt its blood supply and prevent it from bursting. Spetzler found that the aneurysm was fragile and would have ruptured sooner rather than later.

After her surgery, Kirsch put together a website and a YouTube video to let other people know what to expect when preparing for and recovering from a brain aneurysm clipping surgery.

Read the story here: Star Athlete Beats Brain Surgery