Two weeks after welcoming her second daughter, Isla, into the world, Tristin woke up at 4 a.m. with a headache so severe she couldn’t stand.

Within hours, doctors discovered her arteriovenous malformation known as an AVM had ruptured.

An AVM is a rare condition involving abnormal tangles of blood vessels in the brain that disrupt normal blood flow between arteries and veins. Many people live with AVMs for years without symptoms, but when they rupture, they can cause bleeding in the brain, stroke-like symptoms, seizures, or become life-threatening emergencies.

Tristin had known about her AVM and had been carefully weighing treatment options, including radiation, embolization (sometimes called “glueing”), and surgery. But when she became pregnant with Isla, treatment had to be postponed because of the risks.

Then came the rupture.

She was rushed into emergency brain surgery after doctors found significant bleeding and dangerous swelling that had caused her brain to shift. Surgeons had to remove part of her skull to relieve pressure and give her brain space to heal, a procedure sometimes used in severe cases to save a life.

Today, Tristin is in the ICU fighting through the earliest stages of what may be a long recovery.

And while this story is about one family, it also shines a light on a condition many have never heard of.

Brain AVMs are rare, affecting less than 1% of the population, and many are only discovered after a scan for something unrelated — or after an emergency. Awareness matters, because symptoms like sudden severe headaches, seizures, weakness, or neurological changes should never be ignored.

But if you know Tristin, you know this story is also about more than medicine.

It’s about a selfless mom. A devoted wife. A friend who shows up for everyone.

Now her community has a chance to show up for her.