Mark Brawn

Dana Brawn (sister)

Erland Brandenburger (brother-in-law)

Unborn nieces & nephews

**Mark Brawn** is a minor character in "The Sera Chronicles." He was the older brother of Dana Brawn that passed away tragically at the young age of fifteen due to complications from Hepatitis C and Cirrhosis.

## Life & Illness

Marcus Michael Brawn was born on March 9th, 1981 to Nancy (née Saville) and Mike Brawn in Willowdale, Indiana as their first-born child.

As a baby, Mark's parents began to notice some yellowing of Mark's eyes followed by bruising on his stomach. They had him checked out at the hospital where the doctor came to a diagnosis after running more tests. He came to the conclusion that Mark had Hepatitis C; this was a huge blow to Mike and Nancy as they weren't expecting this.

They kept Mark in the hospital where they administered medication and kept surveillance on him until they saw him fit enough to be taken home again. The doctor gave Mike and Nancy medication to give Mark as they took their son home.

At first things were good, the drugs seem to be working as Mark continued to grow and run around the house like the rowdy kid he is. But soon, things quickly turned back to being bad, when Mark would wake up in the middle of the night - crying due to pain in his stomach as Mike and Nancy would try to give him the medicine but that wouldn't ease the pain. They then take back to the hospital to have him checked out.

While there, Mark was given an MRI where the doctor discovered that Mark had Cirrhosis along with Hepatitis. This caused Nancy to breakdown as Mike comforted his wife; considering Mark was so young, he didn't understand why his mother was upset. The doctor gave Mike and Nancy more medicine to give to Mark to help combat the Cirrhosis well as the Hepatitis.

Somewhere along the line, Mark became a big brother when Dana was born. Mark adored his little sister - he would not leave her side and they would remain close.

Meanwhile, Mark's health wasn't exactly getting better. He was crippled with debilitating pain as he had to take a bunch of pills to try and get better, all the while, he was beginning to enter into high school. All of this eventually caused Mark to enter into a dark headspace. One day, he just couldn't take anymore as he broke down crying, screaming how he wanted to kill himself and "end this hell" - Mike and Nancy tried their best to comfort their son and tell him that things will alright, but Mark stormed off to his room where he proceeded to sob throughout the night, both in sadness and in pain.

This event would go on to effect Dana as she didn't want to see her brother upset, and she wanted to do something to help her brother but she didn't know.

In 1996, while Mark was in class, he began to feel short of breath and weak in the muscles. A classmate noticed this and asked Mark if he was alright - he nodded, unable to speak.

When the bell rang, the students began to gather their things and head to their next class. But when Mark stood up to proceed to his next class, he suddenly collapsed onto the floor. Some students let out a scream as the teacher rushed over to him while the teacher's aide called 911 as well as Mark's parents.

Mark was rushed to Oak Valley Hospital as Mike, Nancy and a young Dana met there. The doctor told the family that Mark's liver was failing him and he's in desperate of surgery. Mark was then rushed to the operating room for a liver transplant as the same classmate that asked if Mark was okay offered to donate his liver to save Mark. The classmate, named Ian, was prepped for the operation alongside Mark as the surgeon took out Ian's liver and put it into Mark. Initially, the operation was a success with Mark being wheeled to recovery.

However, Mark's body would come to reject Ian's liver. Mark was laying in the hospital, hooked up to different types of machinery to keep him alive while his family was by his side. The doctor walked in, surprised that they were still here, and he had to tell them that Mark wasn't going to get better. Nancy began to cry as the doctor suggested to end Mark's suffering. Mike sighed as he agreed to take Mark off of life support. The doctor offered the Brawn family their condolences as the machine was shut off.

Mark Brawn passed away in September of 1996 at approximately 5:14 PM. His body was laid to rest in the Tribute Field Cemetery.