Advocate Profile, Andy Wilson

Andy’s daughter, Sarah, was a 21-year-old college student when she was rushed to the ER because of a severe headache and fever. Andy and his wife, Missy, rushed to the ER where they saw their daughter lose consciousness. ER physicians discovered a rash on her body and diagnosed her with serogroup B meningococcal disease. Sarah spent 13 days in the ICU and five days in a coma. She spent a total of six weeks in the hospital recovering. As a result of the infection, she is now hearing and vision impaired.

Andy and his wife made sure that Sarah was up-to-date on her vaccines before college. They did not know that, at the time, recommended vaccines did not protect against serogroup B. Now, vaccines are available and recommended to protect against this serogroup. Andy is committed to working with NMA to educate other families about the disease and make sure they vaccinate their children against all five major serogroups of the disease (A, C, W, Y and B).