- Do you ever feel sick and think it's the flu?
Well my next guest had exactly that feeling
but the next day, wound up hospitalized.
She later learned she had contracted meningitis.
Now in order to save her life,
doctor's had to amputate her legs below the knee
and her fingers.
Now some of the images may be disturbing.
Here's Jamie's remarkable story.
- When I was 20 years old,
I was attending my dream university.
One night, I came down with flulike symptoms.
I was cold,
shivering to the bone.
The next morning, I was so weak I could barely walk.
I needed to go to the hospital.
I had no idea that would've been the last time I walked
with my natural born legs.
The nurse in the emergency room
suspected what was later confirmed
that I contracted meningitis.
- As a mom, it was the hardest thing
watching her fight for her life.
- I saw my limbs go from red to purple
to black to literally rotting.
All of my fingers and legs below the knees
were amputated to help stop the spread of the disease.
- While Jamie may be missing limbs,
I'm certainly fortunate
to have my daughter here with me today.
- Usually people pick up things that they're opening
but I have to use surface to help me open it.
Learning things a new way
actually made me this really determined adaptive person.
All of my earrings are hooks
'cause it's the only type of jewelry
that I can put in by myself.
Today, I'm a woman living life to the fullest
and I found love along the way.
I feel that the best is yet to come.
(audience applause)
- All right.
(audience applause)
Well, Jamie joins me
along with Dr. Len Friedland,
pediatrician and vaccine research scientist
at pharmaceutical company GSK,
who we're partnering with today.
Now, also joining us in the audience
is Jamie's mother Patsy.
So welcome, glad to have you here.
Now, Jamie, had you ever heard of meningitis
before your diagnosis?
- No.
It was the scariest experience.
- Now we saw how the disease
turned your limbs black.
What were you feeling at that point?
- An excruciating amount of pain
and I felt like I had thousands of pounds of sand on me.
After two months of being in the hospital,
the doctors started to talk about amputations.
And they decided to amputate my limbs
to help stop the spread of the disease.
- Wow.
So Patsy, as a mother,
how did you handle Jamie's diagnosis?
Had to be shocking.
- Well, I was shocked
and it was pretty devastating.
Jamie's my young vibrant healthy child.
- Yeah, so Dr. Friedland,
talk about what meningitis really is.
- Jamie had invasive meningococcal disease,
commonly referred to as meningitis.
It can cause an inflammation of the protective membranes
that surround the brain and the spinal cord.
It can also cause blood poisoning with sepsis.
Now, there are five vaccine-preventable groups,
A, C, W, Y and B.
Early symptoms can be similar to a mild case of the flu
but as we saw with Jamie,
this can progress very rapidly.
Meningitis is uncommon
but it's potentially fatal.
One in 10 will die,
sometimes within 24 hours
and of those who survive,
one in five suffer long term consequences
such as loss of limbs, like Jamie.
- So who is most at risk of being infected?
- Well, anybody can get meningitis
but teenagers and young adults
have higher rates of infection with meningitis group B.
For college students,
there are increased risks,
that includes living in close quarters,
sharing things like food and drinks and kissing.
In fact, from 2011 through March of this year,
meningitis B caused all US college meningococcal outbreaks
and that involved 13 college campuses,
50 cases, two deaths,
among an at-risk population of about 253,000 students.
- So doctor, what can parents do
to help protect their teens and young adults?
- What parents can do
is they can speak to their teen's doctor
and ask about the two different types of vaccines
that are available and needed
to help protect against vaccine-preventable meningitis
due to groups A, C, W, Y and B
before their teenager heads off to college.
Now, vaccination may not protect everybody
but it can help save lives.
- Jamie, you not only survived meningitis,
you have a whole new life path.
- With my mother,
we are GSK spokespeople
and we're advocates for the meningitis vaccines.
We want to help other families avoid this.
After my amputations,
I wasn't even sure if I was gonna walk again.
- Yeah.
But not only are you walking again
but you also went on to become a competitive cyclist, right?
- I did and I have a gold medal to prove it.
- Well, congratulations on that.
That is amazing.
Parents, I just have to say,
it is imperative that you take this very, very seriously.
Get educated about meningitis vaccinations.
And a great place to start is at meningitisb.com
and talk to your teen's doctor
about the two different types of meningitis vaccines.
It's really important
that you ask these questions.
This doesn't just happen to other people.
Take the precautions.