Advocate Profile, Cora Harrison

Cora Harrison’s daughter, Julia, was a sophomore at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, when her life was tragically cut short by meningococcal disease. During her fall semester in 2001, Julia visited the student health center suffering from an intense headache. In the middle of the night, she called her parents to tell them she had been vomiting and could barely walk. Feeling her daughter sounded disoriented, Cora called 911 and had Julia transported to a nearby hospital. Julia died only three hours later. Cora and her husband, Paul, were shocked to hear that Julia died as a result of meningococcal disease, since Julia had been vaccinated against the disease a few years earlier. The Harrison’s didn’t realize that it was important to be aware of the symptoms of meningococcal disease, because even with vaccination some people may contract the disease.