Ga. community mourns 2nd-grader who died suddenly after brain bleed

ATLANTA — A Georgia community is mourning the loss of a 2nd-grader after she had a sudden brain bleed on New Year’s Eve.

Preslee Jackson, a student at Wilcox County Elementary School, was rushed to Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta after having a medical crisis on Dec. 31. She was diagnosed with an Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and pronounced brain dead on Jan. 3. Her mother, Kelli Jackson, said on Facebook that AVMs are rare but that her daughter was born with the condition.

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The family announced on social media that Preslee will be an organ donor, a process that takes 24 to 72 hours. Her mother, Kelli Jackson, wrote on Facebook that the family will stay with Preslee until the surgery and that Egleston staff will line the hallways for an honor walk.

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“Anyone that knows Preslee knows she lights up a room, has the cheesiest smile, is super sassy, and super caring,” Jackson wrote. “She would give you the shirt off her back if you asked her for it. Preslee has always been a daddy’s girl and her mama’s mini-me. This just seems unreal and a terrible nightmare.”

Wilcox County Superintendent Dale Garnto wrote a letter to students and parents encouraging them to wear Preslee’s favorite color, purple, on Friday.

School administrators, counselors and pastors were on-hand to help students process the tragedy.

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“Preslee was an excellent student who loved her friends, classmates, and teachers,” Garnto wrote. “She had a bright personality and infectious smile that constantly radiated joy throughout the school. She will be greatly missed by all that knew and loved her.”

Jackson said she’d received well-wishes and prayers for her daughter from as far away as New Zealand.

An AVM is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels that can rupture and cause bleeding in the brain. The condition is usually present at birth. Most people have no initial symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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