On January 9, 2015, Brittany Collins, an Alliance resident and a substitute for the schools, was admitted into the emergency room with terrible pneumonia. Brittany fought her battle for fourteen days.

Brittany first began her fight for life in Box Butte General Hospital emergency room with what was to be believed as pneumonia. Collins was then flown to Rapid City where they brought her to the intensive care unit (ICU) and ran a cat scan. The doctors then decided to intubate her in order to help stabilize her blood pressure and oxygen levels to get a good scan. On day three of Brittany’s battle, the doctors still did not know what was causing such a healthy person such pain and causing all of the infection. Brittany had many people rooting for her to push through her sickness, including her husband, son, sister, parents, in-laws, and other family. She also had plenty of people in support for her and wanted her to get better.

Brittany remained stable throughout days four, five, and six. Throughout the night of day six, Brittany had a rough time. Her family had to make a decision of whether they wanted Brittany to be moved to Denver or the Mayo clinic. While the family was deciding, Brittany began to respond to her surroundings. The only problem was that being on a vent system, Brittany was not stable to fly, and the vent system was too heavy to travel. On day seven, the doctors gave the news that Brittany did not have Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia, but she had ARDS, which stands for Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

On day nine, Brittany had an okay night that started out a little rough. Her family believed that Brittany did not like the way that the machine made her breathe. She was trying to breathe around the machine and having a hard time. During the day, the doctors decided to put Brittany on ECMO. The flight crew from the Mayo clinic arrived and came to move Brittany. Two hours later on day nine, Brittany landed safely at St. Mary’s, which is part of the Mayo clinic. The doctors at the Mayo were stumped due to Brittany’s condition. The X-ray that they took was completely whited out with something dense. The doctors also took a bronchoscopy and her lungs were clean.

Day thirteen began with a roller coaster ride. The doctors changed her ECMO mode from vein to vein (VV) to vein to artery (VA). The doctors felt it was needed in order to reduce the size of her liver and to decrease the lactic acid that had been built up. But, because Brittany was such a petite woman, the doctors opened her up and attached the EMCO to her heart.

Brittany graduated from Alliance High School, while her husband Joe graduated from Hemingford High School. Joe teaches at Hemingford Public Schools, therefore they borrowed the “GUBN- Get Up Bobcat Nation” and changed Bobcat to Brittany, which had a Facebook page and a Go Fund Me account with this same logo.. On January 22, 2015, Brittany’s battle ended. Brittany passed away at 7:22 that evening. She and her family had a lot of support throughout her battle. Brittany had a lot of people rooting for her to get better and fight back. Her family thanked every person that was praying, supporting, routing, and never gave up hope in Brittany.

Though Brittany has passed away, she made a huge impact on people around her. She was a loving wife, daughter, mother, and much more. She was a substitute teacher for Alliance Public Schools as well. Brittany waited tables at the Eagles, as well as working at the Alliance Animal Center. Brittany will be greatly missed by many and the SPUD wishes her family and friends the best as they begin a new chapter in their lives. Rest in peace Brittany. Funeral services will be January 30 at the United Methodist Church at 10 am. There will be a visitation on January 29 at Bates-Gould Funeral Home from 1 to 7pm.