For most collegiate volleyball players, December is a quiet time to relax and recuperate after a demanding three months of games, practices, workouts, classes, and homework, among many other things. They get through the many highs and lows of the season, fighting through the rigors of soreness, possible injury, and travel while balancing academics and a personal life. Finally, the winter months of December and January are where they can take some time off and recover before taking part in the spring portion of their schedule with workouts, practices, and scrimmages.
 
However, this was not the case for Northwest Nazarene's Caroline McMahon nearly a year ago, after the 2022 season came to a close. In fact, what transpired over the next months following the final games would prove to be one of the toughest stretches of her life.
 
McMahon, who was a senior academically but in her junior season of eligibility due to the NCAA granting an additional year from the effects of COVID-19, enjoyed a great season on the court in 2022. She was NNU's starting libero in all 26 matches, leading the team in both digs and service aces while ranking second and fifth, respectively, in the GNAC in those categories. She helped lead the Nighthawks to their best season during her time in Nampa with a 16-10 overall record.
 
Just a few weeks after the conclusion of the season, though, something started to feel a little off. In the beginning of December, she started to feel ill and thought, at first, that it was just symptoms of a regular flu. It did not take long for her to realize that there was something else going on.
 
"After first thinking it was just some sort of flu, I started to notice a lot of interesting symptoms," said McMahon. "One side of my face and my throat started to swell and I was in probably the worst pain I had ever felt, more or less bedridden for a few days.
 
"About three days after symptoms started, I began to experience rigors, with my whole body shaking for hours and times of going in and out of consciousness."
 
McMahon's father is a doctor, so as soon as her condition had progressed into what seemed worse than a normal flu, he urged her to go to the emergency room. She got teammate Anna Gable to take her to the ER, where it was quickly discovered that the situation was very serious.
 
"When they admitted me, I was extremely dehydrated, my oxygen levels were severely low, I was in kidney failure, and my lungs weren't functioning at normal capacity. As a female athlete, my resting heart rate is normally pretty low, but it was all the way down in the 20s. They stabilized me as quickly as they could, but it would be days before the doctors were able to figure out exactly what was going on."
 
McMahon's parents flew in from Oregon as the doctors underwent many tests, and eventually it was discovered that she was experiencing Lemierre Syndrome. Lemierre starts as a viral infection like the flu, but manifests as a bacterial infection. The swelling in her face and neck was caused by a blood clot in her jugular, which allowed bacteria to enter her bloodstream. That bacterium causes failure in your skeletal and joint systems, as well as in your lungs, kidneys, and brain. That led to severe septic shock with infections in her kidneys and lungs. It is a syndrome that is not very common these days, but can still have a high mortality rate because of how quickly the symptoms and organ failure can progress. Thankfully for McMahon, she was able to get to the hospital early enough to get the necessary treatment.
 
"Once the doctors figured out what it was, there were a lot of antibiotics and treatments that we started doing that were able to stop the infections and keep me stabilized and get started on the road to recovery. It's hard to say what might have happened if I had not have gone to the emergency room when I did, but I'm very thankful that the doctors were able to keep me from progressing worse."
 
Interestingly, despite its rarity of one in about a million people experiencing it with varying levels of severity, Lemierre is most common among young adults, particularly those that seem to be very healthy and in good shape like athletes. According to the National Library of Medicine, the median age of patients is between 19 and 22 years of age. It used to be more common and much more fatal prior to the antibiotic era, but penicillin in particular caused the incidence of Lemierre to decline sharply in the 1960s and 1970s. 
 
With those advances of modern science, the doctors were able to get McMahon started on the road to recovery, which would still be tough despite having a diagnosis and top medical care. During the two weeks she was in the ICU, she lost about 40 pounds and it was very hard to gain that muscle or weight back, particularly due to the aggressiveness of the antibiotics she was prescribed. Also, it took some time to get her lungs and kidneys working properly and functioning smoothly again until the infection was fully gone.
 
The recovery was not just physical, however. There were challenges mentally as well, whether it was trying to get back into schoolwork or just simply trying to figure out the limits of her body during the recovery phase. On the academic side, McMahon is very grateful for the flexibility of her professors, who let her take her fall finals during the spring semester. It would take many months though before she felt like she was back up to the capability of competing on the court both mentally and physically.
 
"It wasn't until the summer that I felt physically completely back. It was very humbling. I was not only not as strong as before, but mentally it was like playing in a foreign body which was a very sobering experience.
 
"I am so thankful for all of the support of my professors, team, Coach Doug [English], and our athletic trainer Jaime May during the recovery, giving me the leeway to do everything that I needed to do and what I felt was best for me, no matter how long it took. I also want to give credit to God in all of my healing and recovery, as He put me in this fantastic community of support and was with everyone that took care of me during the initial scary times and throughout the recovery."
 
While her health and the recovery were far more important things, McMahon also noted that the timing of getting back to full strength was just in time for her fifth and final season in a Nighthawks uniform. As one of two fifth-year players on the team, she has stepped into a much larger leadership role.
 
"Sarah [Lyons] and I have enjoyed taking on more leadership roles as the more experienced players on the team. We have come to realize what it means to pour into our teammates and be as selfless as we can. I'm far from perfect in my performance on the court, but if I can encourage my teammates and keep them pushing through and persevering, we can be successful and find ways to win even if we aren't playing our best game.
 
"Whether I'm having a game that's really good or really bad, I know I have to portray the same amount of energy and support because I need to show that I believe in all of us to do great things."
 
McMahon also added that she is very excited to see where the underclassmen take the program in the future. She is very encouraged by the abilities and mindsets of the younger players. Despite graduating a number of significant seniors last year, the Nighthawks are currently in the middle of the pack of the conference and will look to make a postseason push over the final five games of the regular season.
 
"I think this season has been really encouraging. We lost a core group of seniors last year, but these girls have filled in big roles and we have proven that we could take down anyone in the GNAC on any given night. It is sad to think about leaving the program once the season is over, but I am also excited to see what heights this group of underclassmen will reach once they get some more years of experience."
 
Before this season is over, McMahon will also have the opportunity to continue to add to the legacy that she will leave on the NNU volleyball program in historical ways as well. Earlier this year, she broke the program's overall career digs record as well as the NNU DII records for career aces and career sets played. She is also in the top ten in GNAC history in both digs and aces, with chances to climb up the leaderboards in these final weeks.
 
"I realize more and more each day how privileged I am to be able to even have the opportunity to leave any type of legacy with the program. It means a lot to me because I didn't expect any of it, and I couldn't have done it without the coaches and teammates that I've been surrounded by during my career.
 
"Also, while being able to hold titles or records is nice, I just hope that when Doug, other teammates, or other people around the program reflect on my career, they think more of the person that I was as a leader and a teammate. I hope that is more impactful and stands out more than any numbers I was able to accomplish."
 
McMahon is very thankful for what NNU has been able to provide outside of volleyball as well.
 
"A big thing I was able to realize while going through this health scare and during my time at NNU as a whole was that there is so much more to life than being an athlete. When my playing days are done, NNU has prepared me in multiple ways to be ready for the real world.
 
"NNU helped me create an identity outside of volleyball, which actually led to deeper relationships with friends and teammates. I have loved being part of the wildlife biology program as well with some of the best professors in the field. They exude enthusiasm and excitement for what they study and teach, and that helped me be encouraged and stay enthusiastic about what I want to do in the future.
 
"NNU is great about helping you find the balance between being a student and an athlete, and providing a community of support to help you achieve what you set your mind to. Through the ups and downs, successes and hard times like the health scare last winter, I am very grateful to have been a part of NNU and the volleyball program."