Hank Bachmeier can still hear the horrific noises. The guttural, incoherent growls. Four years ago, before Bachmeier was Boise State’s starting QB, they would rumble out of his sister’s mouth. And they’d terrify 17-year-old Hank, because he knew what they foretold. His sister, Ella, would groan — uuuuuhhhhhh — then seize and shake, uncontrollably, sometimes for almost a minute. Hank and their mother, April, had no way to help, and no idea why. So they’d cry.
One week in 2017, Ella had been a “super active” and “perfectly healthy” high school freshman. She’d run in a track meet and lived an extroverted 16-year-old life.