Deadly Migraine: Mother Of Four Dies Suddenly After A Routine Attack

A North Carolina family is in a state of shock after the mother of four, Lee Broadway, passed away from what she thought was a routine migraine.

The 41-year-old had suffered from migraines on and off her entire life, and thought she was having another one of her routine attacks. Her surviving husband, Eric Broadway, said he never once thought that this migraine would mean that he would never see his wife alive again.

After an idyllic spring morning on their porch, where the couple discussed plans for Lee’s upcoming birthday, Eric headed off to work as he normally does. But just a few hours later, Lee phoned him telling him she was suffering from the worst headache she’d ever had in her life. But with her history of migraines, the pair never once thought this would lead to her death.

Alarmed by his wife’s intense migraine, Eric took his wife to the hospital, convinced that this was something out of the ordinary. He opened up toPeople, stating that seeing his wife in this much pain was extremely difficult.

“She was begging to have the pain go away. As a husband, you want to protect your wife and help her, but there was nothing I could do,” he said.

Soon after arriving in the ER, it was confirmed that Lee was suffering from a brain aneurysm, which is often deadly. Lee was transferred to a hospital in Charlotte, where they ranked her aneurysm a 2 on a scale of 5, meaning that she had a good chance of surviving the ordeal.

The Broadway family was told that Lee’s migraine turned aneurysm was going to salvageable. They preformed a ten hour procedure on the mother of four, and Eric recalls seeing the doctor come out and tell them she was going to be okay.

“The doctor came out and said everything looked good. We got the thumbs up and took a deep breath. The doctor came out and said everything looked good. We got the thumbs up and took a deep breath,” he said.

Unfortunately, less than a couple of hours later, Lee bled out and was pronounced brain dead, leaving the Broadway family in total shock.

The pair, who were high school sweethearts, have four children, three girls and a boy. The youngest, Eric says, is still having trouble with the concept of Lee’s death and at times thinks she’s still in the hospital and will return home.

Lee’s oldest, Adair, was on vacation in Florida and her father waited until she got back to North Carolina to break the news that Eric thought her mother had suffered from a migraine, but shortly thereafter died from an aneurysm.

Adair shared her feelings with a local news outlet.

“Every memory I have growing up she’s just always there and so present. I don’t think she would’ve left if she didn’t think we would be OK,” she shared.

Her youngest child also expressed his feelings regarding his mother’s sudden death.

“She was sweet and kind and she always was there for me,” he said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help mitigate expenses related to Lee’s hospitalization, surgery, and funeral costs.

The page states that Lee “grew her wings” and that her organs will be donated in order to help another person live on. So far, the family has raised nearly $38,000 of their $50,000 goal.

After Lee’s unexpected death, the family released 42 balloons to symbolize the 42 years she lived on this Earth. According to the GoFundMe page, Lee would have been 42 on April 8, 2017, and passed away just five days shy of the date.

[Featured Image by Eric Broadway/Facebook]