The courageous fight of Madison Evans

Madison Evans was a senior in the College of Education and was set to student-teach and graduate in the spring of this year. She passed away yesterday after a lengthy battle with complications that arose from open-heart surgery.

Needless to say, her professors and peers are devastated. So too are all the readers of the Dawgvent, where her father, who posts under the handle Munson21, has kept all of us informed with multiple updates over the last two months.

We've shed many a tear in the last 24 hours when her father Jess Forrester posted his final, tragic update. We also realize the Bulldog Nation as a whole needs to be updated as well. To that end, we're posting his updates here so all of Madison's friends can know what has happened.

Kirby Smart is reaching out to the family. The UGA Athletic Association is planning to help honor Madison as well.

The thread on the Dawgvent is one of the most viewed threads in our 23-year history. It has more responses than any topic in recent memory.

Be sure to read Madison's blog as well, here, and linked below by her father, Jess.

UPDATE: Denise Spangler, the dean of the Mary Frances Early College of Education, tells us that "We have determined that Madison is eligible for a posthumous degree, and the faculty will submit the paperwork to President Morehead after Thanksgiving."

"My beautiful die hard Dawg is a sr this year. She had to drop all her classes this fall as she is scheduled to have open heart surgery on Oct 23. This will be her fourth OHS but first since she was four years old. They are replacing her mechanical aortic valve with another one. They are also installing a tissue pulmonary valve. In addition she has to have a repair done to her aortic root. As if that wasn’t enough, she has to have a stent installed prior to surgery and she is having that done on the 16th. I believe in prayers and she could use all we can muster. Thanks in advance. If you need a name to pray for it is Madison and she is a fiery blonde that loves the Dawgs."

"Madison went in this morning to have her stent put in and the Cath Doc doesn’t think her aortic narrowing is as bad as they thought. He says he doesn’t believe she needs the stent! They are going to do the cath anyway and that he will get a better look at things, but at this point after consulting with her cardiologist that he doesn’t think they will end up putting one in. I will update after their procedure. Please continue to keep her in your prayers and thank you for all the messages and mentions. The Power of Prayer is real.10-16 pm They got in with the cath and found she did not need a stent at all! She is home recovering. Tired and has a bad headache. OHS is still on for Oct 23. Thank you Jesus!"

"10pm update. After nearly a 12 hour surgery, Madison is being moved to ICU now. Surgeon said the surgery went very well. There were obstacles, but they overcame them. Replaced both valves and completely reconstructed her aorta. They did damage a vein early in the surgery as her heart was stuck to her chest wall from her previous 3 surgeries. They were prepared for that and were able to perform a bypass. Thank you to all that have been praying for her. This has been the longest day. Please pray for no bleeding and no brain damage from the heart lung or the bypass. I will update as I Know more.

11:00 am - Madison is currently in surgery, surgery began around 9:00. She is on the heart lung machine while surgery is performed. Thank you for the continued prayers. Guide the surgeons hands Lord, your will be done.10-23 6:30 am. UPDATE: Madison has arrived at Egleston, Surgery slated for 7:30. Will last 5-6 hours. She has been super positive and upbeat about everything until she walked in the doors and began crying. Please pray this morning Dawgnation and lift my baby girl up. She needs every prayer we can muster for Strength and Healing. Thank you all."

"Off the ventilator, color is great, swelling going down, talking to her husband and the nurses. Very thirsty but they say she can’t drink anything until 8:30. Praise Jesus! Continue to bless Madison!"

"0800. Madison is a warrior! She is doing great! Hitting all the milestones. She will likely be out of ICU today and moved to a step-down unit. I’ve been able to FaceTime her a few times and last night she was working on her breathing, she loves a competition! FaceTimed her a few minutes ago and she continues to look better each time. She is having some swelling in her hands and they have started her on Lasix for that. Thank you for all your continued prayers!

PM update. Madison is out of ICU!!! She is in the step-down unit and they have her up walking the halls. She is definitely GATA! Keep the prayers coming!"

"Madison is well on the way to recovery. She is doing wonderful and right on track! She is extremely sore but heart function and rhythm are good! She’s getting a little stronger each day. She is having the final two drainage tubes removed this morning. Thank you for the continued prayers. Barring any setbacks, I will update this thread again when she is on her way home!"

"Madison is being discharged this afternoon. Everything is looking great! She is still very sore and tired, but her heart function is good and it looks like everything is working as it should. Thank you for all the prayers and kind words over the last few weeks. God is Good!"

"Madison has had a major setback. At Egleston now. They had to perform an emergency Open Heart to repair something on her heart. We don’t yet know exactly what. Her condition has been worsening of the past week. Was taken by ambulance Thursday morning to Piedmont Monroe. Low BP and throwing up. They got her stable and sent her home. They asked her to come to Egleston Friday for follow-up. They said she had some fluid around her aorta and lungs but that everything seemed fine. She was having a good day Saturday. Yesterday her BP fell out again and she couldn’t even stand up. Taken by ambulance to Egleston yesterday afternoon. At 4:30 this morning with her BP still falling they took her back for surgery. The repair has been done at this point and they are waiting to take her off the heart-lung. Please pray for her this morning."

"Please continue to pray! She is in Critical but stable condition. She has still not woken up. She had a leak on her Aorta from a suture that didn’t hold. The CT scan from Piedmont Newton on Thursday apparently showed her bleeding from her Aorta and they sent her home! The surgeon said it is nothing short of a miracle that she hadn’t fallen over dead. She had major bleeding in her chest cavity when they opened her up and her BP fell out. It took 10-15 minutes for them to get her hooked up the bypass machine and they are worried about her brain function. She has rubbed her feet together a little bit and her eyes have opened some but she is still asleep and it has been since 11 yesterday morning. CT scan looked ok. Just please pray for God's complete healing! We need her to come back!"

"They took Madison back to the OR to clean out her chest cavity of the blood that had accumulated. They had left her chest open since her Surgery. They were able to confirm that her heart was not ejecting any more blood and that the bleeding had stopped. They have closed her back up now and she is back in CICU.

I want to share with you all a God moment for me. In all my anxiety and shock, I opened my bible. I’ve always had a habit of opening my bible to a random page and just start reading. Well yesterday, I think it was yesterday, what’s today? Anyway when I first got here to Egleston at 3 am, I opened my bible to a completely random chapter and verse. I want y’all to look in Your bibles And read Luke 8 40-56 and tell me that God wasn’t training my eyes to what I needed most to see. I Believe in Miracles, I Believe my beautiful daughter is going to wake up regardless of what scans are showing. Believe with me y’all. Pray! I have been amazed at how many people around this country are praying for her and will give God ALL the glory when she comes back to us."

"Madison’s personal Blog for this that would like to know who she was: https://madisonshay11.wixsite.com/lovedbytheking

I am at a loss for words and we are all hurting so bad right now. She fought as long as she could. She did more with her short 21 years than most will do with 80. She had a zest for life and Loved with everything she had. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all who prayed and commented on this thread. I often came to look at what strangers had written. Seeking comfort in knowing that prayer works. Madison had finished all her course work for a degree at her beloved UGA. She only had one semester of student teaching left to do. I’m hoping/praying that someone here could speak to the right person and Posthumously Award her the degree in Early Childhood Education she so fervently pursued. She deserves it and so much more. All she wanted to do was become a teacher and influence the lives of so many children. God bless you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Madison was married to Drew Evans, a 2020 UGA graduate.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help towards the family's health care costs: