Samantha Scott had everything going for her. The talented 23-year-old architectural engineering student was a top rower who had been representing her college for four years.
In October she started to get a sore throat and put it down to tonsillitis but little did she know the infection that was spreading through her body. The rare disease that she actually had would end in tragedy for the 23-year-old student.
Unfortunately doctors had no idea what Samantha was suffering with until it was too late.
Having decided that she must have tonsillitis, which is a typically non life-threatening inflammation of the tonsils that causes a sore throat and a fever, she didn’t think she needed urgent attention.
But, what Samantha actually had was an extremely rare disease called Lemierre syndrome, a bacterial infection which starts in the throat and spreads through the lymphatic vessels to the lungs, according to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services.
It’s a very rare and potentially life-threatening condition and requires antibiotics to treat it.
Sadly, Samantha’s condition deteriorated rapidly and by the time the Colorado native was diagnosed it was too late. Just two weeks later she died on October 27.
‘State of shock’
“Samantha was a great leader for our program and more importantly a great person,” rowing team head coach Patrick Sweeney said in a statement released by Kansas State University, according to Little Things.
“She was so well-liked by all of her teammates and had such a big impact on our program both on and off the water. We are all still in a state of shock, and we will continue to keep her family in our thoughts and prayers.”
Samantha’s longtime best friend Kennidi Cobbley set up a GoFundMe page to help support the Scott family, establish a college scholarship fund in her name, and spread awareness about Lemierre syndrome.
Watch a beautiful celebration of her life in the video below.
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls8D2TP1PU4″ /]
Please share so more people can learn about this potentially deadly disease and to honor the life of this talented and much-loved student.
