Board of Directors

Courtney has been an instrumental leader when joining the Foundation Board in September 2011. She took the opportunity to represent the Foundation at the annual CoMO meeting in Paris 2011. Courtney has spent the last 4 years as a fundraiser for Meningitis. Her story is as follows:

 

On October 27th 2007, we were at my middle son’s last soccer game. Ryan was running around playing with soccer balls, eating snacks, drinking his juice, riding on his daddy’s neck, smiling and laughing it was a great day. October 28th it was about 4:30 am Ryan was a little crabby. Ryan was so tired. Ryan pretty much slept throughout the day. I thought he was tired from the big day we had before. I took his temp throughout the day; he had a little bit of one, (he was also teething). On October 29th he was still really tired. I called the doctor, and they said to check for wet diapers and plenty of fluids is what he needs. OK, He didn’t have a wet diaper. He wouldn’t drink anything; I was giving him fluids through a straw. I couldn’t wait the 4 hrs, 6 hrs or whatever, so I went to the ER. We waited for 3 ½ hours before we got to go in. We were probably back in the room for about 2 hrs. They gave him Fluids and got a blood culture, he still wasn’t perking up. On Tuesday, October 30th we got a phone call from the Dr. telling us we need to get him to the hospital. I drove as fast as I could. When we got there they gave him a spinal tap and told us we would be here for about 7-10 days. I was ok with that. We had to wear gloves, mask, and gowns. Poor little guy has got tubes and wires all over him. Around 11:30 p.m. they had put some IV in his leg, it was a blood platelet transfusion I think. That’s when it all happened, nurses started running, and machines were going off, all this beeping, ringing. IT WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY. I was yelling, telling them to help him and screaming. I was going crazy. It felt like a nightmare a very bad dream. On October 31st 12:20 am he was gone. Pneumococcal/streptococcal meningitis just took our son! The ride home was lonely, quiet, and sad. Still in shock. How was I supposed to tell his brothers that he just died? Ryan was such a sweet baby; He is loved and missed every day.

Brian was born in Fresno, California in 1972 and lived there until August, 2004. After living in Jacksonville, Florida for just under two years, Brian and family now live in the Houston, Texas area. He and his wife, Susan, have been happily married since 1993 and both very much enjoy their two children. Brian's story is part of this website. Brian became involved with the Meningitis Foundation of America while working on a research project at California State University, Fresno. He picked the topic of Meningitis after having contracted his second incident of the illness a few months earlier. Having attained his Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology and moved across the country and half-way back, Brian still enjoys the contact with others needing a better understanding of what's going on with the body when Meningitis strikes.