This fundraiser is to support Brooke and Erik Glaus and their family during an extended medical hospitalization and rehabilitation period. Funds will help cover medical-related expenses and essential family needs, including transportation and daily travel for Erik to visit the hospital and rehabilitation center, meals, and other out-of-pocket costs that arise during treatment and recovery. All funds raised will go directly to Brooke and Erik to help ease the financial strain while they focus on healing.

Here is Brooke's story:

On December 21, 2025, Brooke went to the emergency room in the early hours of the morning due to severe abdominal pain. What we believed might be something treatable quickly turned into a life-threatening medical emergency.

Brooke was transferred by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth, where she underwent emergency laparoscopic surgery later that day. During the procedure, doctors found a ruptured ovarian cyst and extensive endometriosis. She was discharged the following day and returned home, believing the worst was behind her.

On December 28, Brooke's condition rapidly declined. She became short of breath, confused, and visibly unwell. She was rushed to the emergency room in Menomonie, where doctors discovered fluid in her abdomen. During this time, she suffered a medical emergency and needed immediate intervention. Due to severe winter weather, she could not be airlifted and was transported by ambulance to Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire.

In the early hours of December 29, Brooke underwent another emergency surgery. Doctors discovered severe sepsis caused by a puncture in her small intestine from the original surgery. The infection had spread throughout her body. She was admitted to the Critical Care Unit, where doctors said that she was critically ill and would need multiple surgeries. Over the following days, Brooke endured several additional major surgeries to remove infected tissue, repair her intestines, and clean infection from her abdomen.

Brooke spent a week in a medically induced coma in the critical care unit. She woke up from the coma and faced some setbacks, including pneumonia, blood clots, recurring infections, and difficulty breathing on her own. She was intubated and then extubated twice during her stay, and then, after the second time, they decided that a tracheotomy was necessary.

Slowly, Brooke began to show signs of progress - waking up, following commands, squeezing hands, breathing independently for short periods, and eventually being able to speak with us. Now that she is getting stronger, they have been able to take the tracheotomy out. Physical therapy began while she was still in critical condition, as her body had become extremely weak from prolonged illness and immobility. She will continue her physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapies.

As of January 20, Brooke has been moved out of the critical care unit and continues her recovery in a progressive care unit. She has a long road of rehabilitation and will require ongoing medical care, therapy and future procedures.

We want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out and supported us in different ways. We appreciate the continued love, support and prayers.

Brooke, Erik, Maggie and Luke