Scott Parkhurst
ASMP Advocate

My youngest son, Jacob, was a 17-year-old junior in High School. Jake was an “A” student and a member of the High School swim team. He also enjoyed snowboarding, golfing, and riding motorcycles.

In 2014, I received a call from Jake on a Sunday afternoon saying he didn’t feel well. I told him to get rest and keep up on liquids and we’ll see how he feels in the morning.

Monday morning I texted Jake and he said he was off with his mom to urgent care. Then, I received a text from his mom that Jake was loaded in an ambulance and off to the hospital.

When I arrived at the hospital, the ER doctor pulled Jake’s mom and me aside and informed us that Jake may not survive; he had bacterial meningitis. I told Jake to fight for his life, and he nodded back to me, ok, as he was wheeled off to intensive care.

He was then put into a medically induced coma to help fight the bacteria.

Later Monday evening, the doctor reported that one of Jake’s pupils was larger than the other and that there may be neurological issues. The doctors decided to wean him off the medications to check his response, but he didn’t respond.

Tuesday morning, the doctors ran an EEG to check his brain activity, and at that point, they determined he was brain dead. In 36 hours, Jake was dead due to bacterial meningitis Serogroup B.

Since there was no vaccine available in the US, I had to take my oldest son, Jeff, to Canada to get the Serogroup B vaccination. I shouldn’t have to take my son to another country to get the vaccine to ward off this deadly disease.