T.E.A.M. > New York

New York

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Michael LaForgia

Smithtown, New York
Meningococcal Disease Survivor

Michael LaForgia was a 40-year-old father of three when he contracted meningococcal disease. In December 2004, Michael was celebrating New Year's with his family in Maine. He woke in the middle of the night with an excruciating headache, nausea and chills. Thinking he had the flu, the family cut the trip short and returned to New York. The next night, Michael's wife saw a purplish rash on his face. When he became too weak to walk, she took him to the hospital.Michael was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit when he began to have trouble breathing and his organs began failing. Doctors did not expect him to survive the night. By the time he was transferred to another hospital, Michael's face was unrecognizable - it was swollen and turning black, along with his limbs. Doctors gave Michael antibiotics and after eight days in a coma, he began to improve. Michael survived, but endured the amputation of his right leg below the knee and part of his left foot. He spent two months in the hospital and five months in rehabilitation.

Read Michael's Story (as written in Reader's Digest Jan '08).

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John Kach

Carmel, New York
Meningococcal Disease Survivor

Before John Kach went to college, he read about a vaccine for meningococcal disease on his university's recommended immunization list. However, John and his family were not aware that certain adolescents and young adults are at increased risk for this dangerous bacterial infection. John's family had difficulty finding the vaccine, so he did not get immunized before heading off to college. Instead, his mom encouraged him to get the vaccine on campus.

John was a starting player on Salve Regina University's varsity basketball team his freshman year. Between games, practice and classes, he did not make getting vaccinated a priority, partly because John didn't know how serious the disease could be. He had just completed a winning season when he contracted this potentially vaccine-preventable disease that has changed his life forever.

At first, he thought he had a bad case of the flu. After a bout of vomiting, John's girlfriend insisted he go to the hospital to seek treatment for dehydration, but neither imagined the seriousness of his condition.

John was diagnosed with meningococcemia, a form of meningococcal disease that infects the blood. Within hours, his kidneys and lungs stopped functioning, and doctors put him into a drug-induced coma. John remained unconscious for six weeks while his body fought the disease. John suffered from gangrene and doctors had no choice but to amputate his right leg below the knee. They also amputated all five toes on his left foot and all ten fingers.

After nine months in the hospital and physical rehabilitation, John learned to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. He also learned how to use his hands without fingers. Three years after surviving this horrible disease, John's left leg was amputated due to chronic pain and nerve damage as a result of meningococcemia.

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Heather Tufano

Massapequa, New York
Meningococcal Disease Survivor

Heather Tufano was an 18 year old freshman attending college in New York City when she contracted Meningococcemia. Her symptoms began at 11 o'clock at night with fever, chills and pain in her joints, so extreme that she could not walk. By early the next morning a black and blue rash spread quickly all over her legs. She was immediately brought to the intensive care unit at a local hospital to find out she had a 5% chance of living that night.

Heather was in the hospital for 3 months and underwent roughly 8 surgeries, including the amputation of her right foot and 2 fingers. Once she left the hospital, Heather had to learn how to walk again by going to physical therapy for several months. Since she left the hospital in January of 2005, Heather returned to school and has now graduated college. She joined NMA to educate and create awareness about the signs and symptoms of Meningococcal disease.