Mackenzie Jo Bruschetto

It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beautiful daughter, Mackenzie Jo Bruschetto. She was a free spirit with the kindest of hearts and an incredibly wicked sense of humor.

Mack was born in Silverdale, Washington on a peaceful Easter Sunday; April 15th, 2001. She had a happy childhood where she lived in Suquamish, Washington. She graduated from Kingston High School in 2019.

She was a fiercely loyal person and shared countless adventures traveling with her family and friends. She was a free spirit at heart, a vagabond, who was eager to explore the world. After graduating she took classes at Olympic College, held down a job delivering pizza for Domino’s and earned enough money to pay her way to trek across New Zealand for 30 days.

In September of 2020 she moved to Bellingham with friends from school. Three weeks after moving, she experienced traumatic brain trauma caused by what was later diagnosed as Autoimmune Limbic Encephalitis.

The next four months were touch and go as she was kept in an induced coma and on a ventilator to allow her brain to heal. Navigating it all during the Covid-19 pandemic was a never-ending nightmare for all involved. Post coma she relearned to breathe, speak, swallow, eat, and walk, but amazingly came home in time to celebrate Christmas.

Her long recovery journey had begun. She was brave, strong, and courageous although she would be the first person to vehemently tell you that she abhorred those “descriptions.” She did not want to be a fierce warrior. She did not want to be “that girl.” Like Pinocchio longed to be a “Real Boy”; Mack yearned for normalcy. She wanted to be a “Normal Girl,” a “Real Girl,” who did normal things.

Recovery was hard, arduous work. Mack and her family made slow progress and experienced disappointing setbacks and relapses. Swedish hospital, often, felt like our second home.

Post coma, Mackenzie suffered from permanent amnesia. She lost complete memory of the previous four years; her memory of life before her illness was hazy. Music and Disney films were among the few things she remembered. She would watch and rewatch them; over and over… the same childhood memories. Like Peter Pan never had to grow up, neither will Mack. She will forever be living her best life.

When she was at her healthiest, she spent time with her family traveling to Rimrock, Mexico, Ocean Shores, New York, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, North Dakota, London, Paris, as well as multiple trips to Disneyland and Disney World. She was always happiest while travelling.

Mid-summer of 2023 brought another relapse, that resulted in a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for a complete medical workup. For the first time, doctors gave her hope. She was told she would be able to slowly return to the life she so vaguely remembered. Thus began the agonizingly slow process of tapering her off the myriads of medications that had robbed her of her true spirit and self.
Mackenzie was discovered in the early morning hours of July 12th in her downtown apartment in Poulsbo. Her 4 year battle with Autoimmune Limbic Encephalitis was over after one final seizure.

In the months before her death, she was returning to the Mack that we knew and loved. Mackenzie experienced first love and they were happily living in downtown Poulsbo. She was exploring employment opportunities and getting ready to re-enroll at Olympic College. She was a voracious reader, a talented writer, and loved music more than life itself. She was in her element when music was dancing through her soul. She was a ferocious fan of Harry Styles’ music and artistry, seeing him in concert an astonishing nine times!

Her love for her paternal grandparents, Joe and Carol Bruschetto was fierce and true. She leaves behind her parents, Troy and Allison Bruschetto, older brother, Alex Bruschetto, maternal grandparents, Mike and Eileen Schiro, uncles and aunts, Ryan and Debbie Schiro, and Nicholas and Jennifer Bruschetto. Mackenzie was blessed with an abundance of aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, and friends.

We were well aware of how fragile Mackenzie’s life was. Her wishes were to have no formal ceremony and for family and friends who might want to make a contribution in her memory do so at The Alliance for Autoimmune Encephalitis at http://aealliance.org .

From early childhood Mackenzie had a strong pull to the moon and stars. As she grew, these beautiful bright lights of the night sky gave Mack and the rest of her family a sense of home and strength no matter where we were.

This past Christmas, Mack’s grandparents gifted her with her very own star in the galaxy. Its name is Stardust. Whenever you see the glowing light of the moon and stars, please remember the twinkle that forever lives on in our hearts and souls as Mackenzie Bruschetto. #moon.lightmack