Advocate Profile, Barry Kessleman

In 1991, Barry was a high school sophomore who visited the school nurse one day after lunch. Feeling sick, he had his family take him home. Once home, he stayed in his room with what his doctor thought was Scarlet fever. When developed a purplish rash a few hours later, his parents rushed him to the hospital. Over the next week, Barry would be transferred to another hospital, suffer organ failure, and was told repeatedly that he may not survive. For two months more, he was treated in a burn victim unit after the disease caused tissue damage all over his body. When he was released from the hospital, Barry would receive physical and occupational therapy for half of a year, just to regain the ability to complete simple tasks such as walking or using a fork.

Today, Barry lives with his wife and three daughters, and raises awareness of meningococcal disease and its prevention.