Karen Crespo
ASMP Advocate

In December 2011, I was working my shift as a Registered Nurse when my life completely changed forever. I started to have flu-like symptoms and being the winter season I didn't think anything of it. However, within two days I felt like I got hit by a bus. What stood out most was the terrible headache I had. It was by far the most severe headache I'd ever experienced and I had experienced migraines before. I also had body aches, a stiff neck where I couldn't even put my own socks on, purple rashes on my extremities, and painful ice-cold feet, and I noticed the morning before I went to the ER I couldn't urinate even a single drop. I didn't realize this at the time, I had the textbook symptoms of bacterial meningitis/meningococcal disease. I was told I had a less than 10% chance of surviving unless I amputated all 4 of my limbs since the bacteria was traveling throughout my bloodstream and I was experiencing multiple organ failure. After being in a medically induced coma for 15 days, I suffered 2 heart attacks and a blood clot in my brain, I was on dialysis due to kidney failure, I had a breathing tube in my throat from respiratory failure, numerous skin graft surgeries, and multiple blood transfusions. In addition to my limbs, I lost my entire top lip and nose, part of my right ear (which eventually grew back), and partial hearing. I stayed in the Intensive Care Burn Unit for 5 months and a physical rehabilitation hospital for 7 months. I had to unlearn how I did normal everyday tasks during the first 28 years of my life and relearn a completely different way while relying on prosthetic arms and legs.

I remember the ER doctor asked my mother why I waited so long to go to the hospital. The doctor mentioned if I had stayed home 30 more minutes, I probably wouldn't be here today. Since meningitis symptoms are hard to differentiate, I just thought I had the flu. Like others, of course, I would've taken action sooner if I knew it was that serious. I lived alone in my apartment and I always think if I had a roommate to push me to go to the hospital sooner maybe things would have been different and I would not have become an amputee. It was a devastating punch in the gut when I later found out I contracted meningococcal disease serogroup C, which is a completely vaccine-preventable disease. Unfortunately, being a nurse I didn't know such a vaccine even existed. The vaccine wasn't required for healthcare workers to work (and still isn't) and being in my late 20's I wasn't in the usual target age for the vaccine. By the time the first conjugate vaccine for meningococcal disease was available in the United States, I had already graduated college.

Despite all the hardships I face, I am in good spirits and filled with optimism as I continue to strive to become fully independent at my second chance in life. I want to live to be the change I see in the world so I help advocate for change. I use my nursing background to be an active community member and attend conferences for various organizations to help educate and spread awareness to different communities. I love sharing my story to try to motivate others to do public speaking engagements at schools, churches, pharmaceutical companies, and local businesses. During the fall of 2014, I was also in the headlines for a positive and memorable highlight when I became the first multi-limb amputee to strut down the runway and model for a fashion designer during New York Fashion Week. I want to continue to inspire everyone with my strength, dedication, and perseverance. I am a living testament that you can disable the human body, but not the human spirit.