PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. — The family of a Pickens County deputy still fighting to survive after a routine procedure received disheartening news on Thursday.
The Pickens County Sheriff's Office shared on social media that MRI results had come back showing damage throughout Deputy Cassie Defoor's brain.
The 30-year-old deputy had been showing signs of improvement according to sheriff's office officials. Defoor was having her pacemaker adjusted when her aorta formed a tear and she was forced to undergo emergency surgery.
Since then, she's been under the care of Wellstar Kennestone and, according to the sheriff's office, had shown signs of improvement just a day earlier.
Pickens County Sheriff's Capt. Chris Stancil said doctors were able to remove her heart bypass machine on Tuesday and that her heart is functioning well. She remained on a ventilator, but it was only functioning at a very minimal level, he said.
The news on Thursday revealed that at least one part of the prognosis wasn't as positive.
"The majority of the damage is to the left side and the lower right side of her brain," the sheriff's office said in the latest update. "Definitive testing to learn the true extent of the damage won't be possible until Cassie is off meds and fully alert."
Despite the news, they said the family is still holding strong and thankful for all of the prayers that have come in since the community learned the news.
They're asking the public to continue praying for the young deputy.