Advocate Profile, Nancy Perry

Both Connie and Nancy’s sons, Jackson and William, were both freshmen on the Bucknell University (Pennsylvania) crew team in the fall of 2017. During the Thanksgiving break, William and Jackson were with their own families several states apart and each fell terribly ill. Both were diagnosed with meningococcal disease (serogroup B). Each wound up in a hospital fighting for his life, with Jackson falling into a coma. William and Jackson both ultimately made full recoveries and were able to return to school the following semester. Both had received the MenACWY vaccine before college; neither Connie nor Nancy knew that there was a separate vaccine that would have helped protect their sons against meningitis B.