Evans announced on April 14 that she was in the hospital to treat the flu and a urinary tract infection and had a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics. She then began experiencing symptoms that caused her to have constant seizures and was admitted to an intensive care unit.
Rachel Held Evans, a New York Times best-selling progressive Christian writer, has died at age 37.
Evans died Saturday morning at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, after she had been in a medically induced coma for several weeks.
“It is with a broken heart that we share with you that Rachel Held Evans died early this morning. She took a serious turn on Thursday morning and deteriorated quickly. Rachel died in the very early morning hours of May 4, 2019. She was surrounded by her family and her close friends — we sang and we prayed and we held her always. We are grateful for your prayers and for all the ways you have supported not only her but her family especially Dan and the kids,” wrote Sarah Bessey, a feminist Christian author and friend of Evans in an update on the official GoFundMe page for the family.
In a public statement on the crowdfunding page, Evans’ husband, Dan, wrote:
“Rachel was slowly weaned from the coma medication. Her seizures returned but at a reduced rate. There were periods of time where she didn’t have seizures at all. Rachel did not return to an alert state during this process. The hospital team worked to diagnose the primary cause of her seizures and proactively treated for some known possible causes for which diagnostics were not immediately available due to physical limitations. Early Thursday morning, May 2, Rachel experienced sudden and extreme changes in her vitals. The team at the hospital discovered extensive swelling of her brain and took emergency action to stabilize her. The team worked until Friday afternoon to the best of their ability to save her. This swelling event caused severe damage and ultimately was not survivable.
“Rachel died early Saturday morning, May 4, 2019.
“This entire experience is surreal. I keep hoping it’s a nightmare from which I’ll awake. I feel like I’m telling someone else’s story. I cannot express how much the support means to me and our kids. To everyone who has prayed, called, texted, driven, flown, given of themselves physically and financially to help ease this burden: Thank you. We are privileged. Rachel’s presence in this world was a gift to us all and her work will long survive her.”
