By Brenda Erdahl:
After 14 unexplained strokes and two years of uncertainty and pain, 23-year-old Mitchell Brinkmann wanted to give up.
It was September of 2021, and the Brinkmann family was at one of its lowest points that day in the North Memorial ER. His mother Julie, attached to oxygen tubes because of a case of COVID that left her with double pneumonia, grasped his left hand, but Mitchell couldn’t feel it. He reached over with his right hand and said something no mother ever wants to hear. “If I’m not going to be okay this time, I want to know you’re going to be okay.”
“He was giving up,” Julie said. “I told him, ‘We’re going to get you through this, you have to stay strong.’”
Since July of 2019 the family had been looking for answers to why their otherwise healthy son was experiencing multiple strokes that were leaving him with short-term memory loss, impaired mobility, color blindness, recurring headaches, and dizziness. Mitchell had vowed that even if he had to spend the rest of his life paying the medical bills, he was going to find out what was causing this. Not long after that fateful day in the ER, he got his answer. Now he’s on the road to recovery, but the journey has left scars, both physical and financial.
On Sunday, Jan. 9 there will be a benefit in his honor at the Maple Lake American Legion organized by his soon to be sister-in-law, Ashley Becker, a Maple Lake High School graduate. The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature a silent auction, 50/50 raffle, a cornhole tournament, pool tournament, bake sale, door prize and spaghetti dinner. For Sunday football fans, the Vikings vs Bears game will be playing in the bar. Everyone is welcome to join the fun and help Mitchell on his road to full recovery.
To read more about Mitchell’s story and to find out how you can help, pick up a copy of the Messenger today to read this front page article.