Sabrina Pugh
ASMP Advocate

I lost my daughter, Caitlin, in 2006 to meningococcal meningitis. She was 18 years old, a college freshman, and an important part of our household. Caitlin was wise beyond her years, filling our home with love and light. She worked hard and was a great role model for her younger sister, Callan. We called ourselves the Pugh Girls Three. Caitlin died from vaccine-preventable bacterial meningitis within 24 hours of symptom onset. 

During her freshman year, Caitlin was living at home and commuting. She and I discussed the importance of getting vaccinated for meningitis before she moved on campus for her sophomore year. At that time, vaccination was recommended for college students living on campus, but not necessarily for commuters. Our family has always believed in proactive vaccination, and we thought we were following best practices for Caitlin’s health and well-being based on the information we had at the time. 

Caitlin called me on a Thursday evening ahead of a night class, saying she wasn’t feeling well with flu-like symptoms and fatigue. Her boyfriend brought her home, where she took medicine for her fever and fell asleep on the couch. I spoke to her before leaving for work early the next morning but didn’t want to disturb her too much by turning the light on – if I had I might have noticed unusual bruising caused by meningitis. I encouraged her to call in sick to work and to follow up with our local doctor when they opened. Later that morning, the doctor’s office called saying she would be transferred to our county hospital. I met her there and was told that meningitis was suspected. She was already on antibiotics and doctors had conducted a spinal tap. I waited with her for life flight to come to take her to an even larger hospital. I held her hand and comforted her and talked to her a little while we waited. I couldn’t ride with her in the helicopter. I didn’t know then, but saying goodbye to her when she was loaded in was the last time I would see her alive. Most of our family didn’t get to see her to say goodbye. I’m so glad I had those last moments with her to tell her I loved her. 

Her death impacts me every day. Caitlin should be here. She should have been part of all the things the Pugh Girls Three dreamed of for the future and all that has come for our family. We miss her when we travel, at every holiday, and at every major life event. I grieve because there wasn’t a celebration for her college graduation, a first professional job, wedding plans, or any of the other wonderful things she would have done in her life. 

Learning that Caitlin’s illness was vaccine-preventable changed our family. In her memory, we have set out to educate and support students like her as they start their college endeavors. We established a scholarship fund that is supported by an annual car show event and local donations from those who love her. At the car show, we have worked with our local health department to share meningitis vaccination information with our community. I also speak each year at the high school senior scholarship night about the importance of getting vaccinated to protect against meningitis. As a middle school Family and Consumer Science teacher, I covered the importance of vaccines in health and wellness lessons. As an advocate, I want to help parents and children understand the importance of vaccination so that families like mine can be spared the lasting heartbreak of losing a child. Sharing Caitlin’s story still isn’t easy for me after all these years, but if doing so helps protect even one family, then her life and her light continue to matter.