Advocate Profile, Jess Wolf

Aydia “Addy”, a bubbly, smiling little girl and best friend to her twin brother, Caydren, woke up crying one morning. Addy had a high fever and was acting strangely. She began vomiting. She was rushed to the ER where staff gave her antibiotics after noticing a purple spot and eventually moved her into the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). On her way to the PICU, Addy went into respiratory failure. She was diagnosed with meningococcemia.

Addy stayed on a ventilator for more than a week. Slowly, the swelling in her body subsided. She spent a total of 22 days in the hospital. Addy had partial amputations on her fingers but survived without any other major lasting side effects. Six months later, Addy celebrated her first birthday with her brother. Although a vaccine is available for children as young as two months of age, Addy had serogroup B meningococcal disease, which is not covered by that vaccine. Jess and Tammy are incredibly thankful for their daughter’s survival and work with NMA to educate other parents about prevention.