Advocate Profile, Alicia Stillman

Alicia’s daughter Emily was a college sophomore when she woke one night with a terrible headache. She was taken to the hospital and treated for a migraine. Emily’s condition worsened and by the next morning, they knew she had bacterial meningitis. At first, Alicia and her husband Michael believed everything would be okay. Emily had been vaccinated. By the time Alicia reached the hospital, however, Emily was intubated. Within hours, she was brain dead. Alicia and Michael said their goodbyes, and Emily passed away from strain B meningococcal disease less than three days after arriving at the hospital. Alicia is working with the NMA so she can educate her community about this dreaded disease, including symptoms and vaccine coverage.