LAFAYETTE, La. (KADN) — The Louisiana Ragin' Cajun baseball team is on the diamond at "The Tigue."
The starting pitcher is competing for the first time since he almost lost his life to a bacterial infection in 2022.
Pitcher Murphy Brooks granted me a conversation about his journey.
He was an incoming freshmen at TCU when he developed Lemierre's Syndrome, which made it difficult for him to breathe. Had the doctor not tried one last treatment to raise his oxygen levels, he may not be here today.
"Death scare, I was pretty much laying on my deathbed for a couple days," said Brooks.
According to him and his mother, Shelly, when he was admitted into the emergency room, his oxygen percent levels had dropped into the 70s.
Their next step was ICU where he would be intubated.
His doctor tried one last procedure, laying him on his chest to see if the oxygen levels would rise, and they did.
"I'm blessed to even be here to be able to walk around and have conversations with people, to be functioning like a normal human being," explained Brooks.
He explained one of the toughest parts of his situation has been the recovery.
"Me being an athlete and a competitor, I was like, 'No way, dude. Give me like four or five months, tops, and I'll be back.' Sure enough, eight months to the day, I was out there. I had my stuff again," added Brooks.
He will have special fans in attendance.
"I guarantee after I throw that first pitch, my mom is going to break down crying," noted Brooks.
UL faces Northwestern State.
