‘I’m going to beat this’: Colorado Springs police officer had seizure on duty, leading to brain cancer diagnosis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Officer Brianna Ragsdale was taking her best friend of 17 years out for a ride-a-long in her Colorado Springs Police patrol car when she started showing signs of a seizure.

“It was out of nowhere, and I was rushed to the hospital,” Ragsdale said. She says a fellow officer called for medical support.

After a CT scan, an MRI and a biopsy, doctors told her she has a rare kind of brain cancer called Astrocytoma. It’s produced three tumors on her left frontal lobe, the part of the brain controlling speech and movement.

“The doctors say that I am rather … surprising because there’s no neurological side effects as of right now,” Ragsdale said. “I have some headaches and but that’s it. I don’t have loss of balance. I’m able still to talk and articulate things, and they’re kind of in shock by that so I’m hoping that’s a good sign.”

Ragsdale has three daughters, ages 10, 8, and nearly 5.

“My 5-year-old doesn’t quite understand, but the others know what the word cancer means and they’re scared,” she said.

Ragsdale was cleared by her doctors to take a trip to Disneyland with her girls, a decision she made in light of the health news. When returning from that trip, she plans to head to Cleveland for treatment.

“I’m trying to have a very positive attitude, and my goal is to beat this and to come back stronger than I was before,” she said.

If you want to donate, you can fill out a donation form here! Just be sure to check the box for “designated” and enter Brianna Ragsdale’s name. One hundred percent of donated funds will go to Brianna.

A GoFundMe page for Ragsdale has also raised thousands of dollars.

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