A US Paralympian who had both legs and all her fingers amputated because of meningitis is in New Zealand urging university students to get vaccinated against the disease.
Jamie Schanbaum is in the country on her honeymoon after she almost didn't survive meningitis.
Ms Schanbaum was vaccinated against meningococcal disease as a child. Then, as a teen in her first term of university, her life changed.
"I was fine one day, and then the next day within 14 hours I was admitted to hospital. I was in the fetal position, couldn't retain any warmth, shivering down to my bones," she told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp.
That was on day one of a seven-month stay in hospital.
"When you learn that you have meningitis, you're in the hospital with a very small chance of surviving. The stats are that one out of 10 who get meningitis will die," she said.
"I saw my limbs go from red rash to purple to black. I had my amputations about three months into my stay. By the time I got out I was 80 pounds, lost most of my hair and in a wheelchair as an amputee - both of my legs below my knee and all my fingers."
“Close quarters is a really good breeding ground for meningitis
There are several types of meningococcal disease - A, B , C, Y, W - and in New Zealand, around two thirds of cases are caused by group B.
An outbreak reached epidemic proportions in the early 2000s, when immunising your baby was fully funded.
Many of those infants are now young adults and the protection immunisation gave may have worn off, just as they reach a potentially at-risk phase.
"When you're in the dorms, you're hanging out with dorm-mates and everyone on the same floor, those close quarters is a really good breeding ground for meningitis. Coughing, shaking hands, smoking, people who smoke cigarettes and share them is a big one, just spreading of germs," Ms Schanbaum said.
She and her family helped pass a bill requiring all university students in Texas to be immunised, and she wants New Zealand uni students to know they're not invincible.
"I walked onto campus at a high risk of catching this disease and I didn't even know it," she said.
Ms Schanbaum planned to do a semester in New Zealand until meningitis set her on a different path.
But instead of asking "why me?" she decided to try to become an advocate to help others avoid going through what she has with the disease.
"If I can share the message so that people can learn about it, that's all I can do in my path in life," she said.
"I highly suggest getting vaccinated."
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