As mothers who have both lost a child, we often say we’re in a club that we want no one else to ever join.
We started our individual foundations and the Meningitis B Action Project after we each lost our young, healthy daughters too soon to a now vaccine-preventable disease, Meningitis B.
Kimberly (Patti’s daughter), 17, died one week before her high school graduation. College sophomore Emily (Alicia’s daughter), 19, died just 36 hours after her first symptoms.
Meningococcal disease is one of the most common types of bacterial meningitis. It is a life-threatening bacterial infection that can affect the lining of the brain and spinal cord, or it can cause an infection in the bloodstream – or both. Ten to 15 percent of those who contract meningitis die. For those who survive, 20 percent will suffer permanent disabilities such as brain damage, hearing loss, loss of kidney function or limb amputations.