Katie 's Meningitis Story

Hello there, I’m Katie Thompson and I live outside of Charleston, South Carolina in the United States. I am a patient advocate and meningitis survivor.

My journey with bacterial meningitis began in 2005 at the age of 18. I was a freshman in college and one day I stood up from my dorm room desk to excruciating pain in my back and legs. I’d herniated a disc that compressed my spinal cord. I had surgery, but then suffered complications and a few weeks later contracted bacterial meningitis. Those weeks battling meningitis were the most horrific time of my young life. It was a level of pain and suffering I would not wish on anyone.

I knew then that I had to do something to help educate others, to help spare them this torture as meningitis destroys not only lives but also families. What I want people to know about meningitis is just how horrible this disease is, it is not something anyone should have to endure. I also want people to know how easily it can now be prevented. While meningitis is rare, the potential consequences are just too devastating.

1 in 10 patients die from this disease, and 1 in 5 of bacterial meningitis survivors live with lifelong and potentially disabling complications. Even one life affected by this disease is too many and the majority of meningitis patients are our most vulnerable - babies and adolescents are the most affected groups. As an advocate I have had amazing opportunities to share my story with millions across the United States and beyond.

I work to help raise awareness and inform others so that hopefully one day, my story is no longer needed. Meningitis is preventable. The more that we talk to each other about meningitis, to the parents and young people in our lives, the more we can raise awareness and the closer we can get to eventually realizing a world without this terrible disease.

Through my work as an advocate but also as an artist and writer, I share my experiences in hopes to help others feel hope in their own struggles. I share my story because I have been blessed with so much love and compassion, and the world needs hope more than ever. We can give that to ourselves and each other.

This is my story and my way of connecting with the world, and this is my work to help make it a better place. Meningitis has taught me to appreciate the love in everyone and everything - this world is so beautiful, yet so fleeting, and we all leave our own indelible mark.

So I ask those who hear my story to please let it leave you with awareness, love and with hope for all of those that have been impacted by this disease.