Leslie Maier
ASMP Advocate

My athletic, healthy son, Chris, was a senior in high school and a star soccer player when meningococcal disease tragically took his life. Just days before he died, Chris was “healthy as could be” and had scored the winning goal at the Arizona state high school soccer championship.

On March 1, 2005, Chris had to leave soccer practice early because he was having a hard time getting warm. He took a warm bath, and I gave him medication for his headache and fever. That night, his condition worsened, and he began vomiting.

The next day, Chris told us he couldn’t feel his legs, and my husband called the paramedics. As they rushed him to the emergency room, Chris lapsed into a coma. Meningococcal disease took my son’s life in less than 24 hours.

Before Chris got sick, we had never even heard of meningococcal disease, and we didn’t know it was potentially vaccine-preventable.

Leslie worked for decades at the forefront of meningitis prevention through her involvement with the National Meningitis Association (NMA). NMA closed in 2022, and Leslie today continues her advocacy with the American Society for Meningitis Prevention.