Andy Marso's story

I was a senior at the University of Kansas in 2004 when I contracted bacterial meningitis three weeks before graduation. In less than 24 hours I went from feeling perfectly healthy to being near death. Thanks to the quick action of Dr. Leah Luckeroth at the student health center, I was given immediate emergency care. Within hours I was on a helicopter to the University of Kansas Hospital, in septic shock, with multiple organs failing.

When my parents arrived at the hospital that night they were told there was no guarantee I would survive, and even if I did, I would almost certainly lose parts of all four limbs, because the infection had spread throughout my bloodstream and was cutting off circulation to my extremities.

Fighting for life

I spent most of the next month in intensive care, in a medically-induced coma, while the medical staff fought to stabilize my organs, end the infection and contain the damage to my limbs. When I woke up my arms and legs had turned black due to loss of blood. I had tissue damage equal to third-degree burns over 30% of my body. The doctors told me I would almost certainly have parts of all four limbs amputated — the only question was how much.

I remained in the hospital for more than 100 additional days, most of them in the burn unit. I endured significant debridement (procedure to remove debris or infected/dead tissue from a wound) and skin/tissue grafting to save my arms and legs, but still had to have the front half of both feet and all of my fingers except my right thumb amputated.

The journey through grief to acceptance

Throughout my hospitalization, I went through all of the stages of grief:

• Denial (“My limbs will come back and I wouldn’t need any amputations, no matter what the doctors say.”)
• Anger (“Why did this have to happen to me? I don’t deserve this.”)
• Bargaining (“God, if you give me back just one of my hands, I will spend the rest of my life feeding poor children.”)
• Depression (“Is life even worth living any more? I just want to stay in bed.”)
• Acceptance (“I am never getting my old life back, as much as I want to. So I guess my only choice is to make the most of my new life.”)

My recovery: relearning life and discovering strength

After I was discharged from the hospital, I spent a year in outpatient rehabilitation, undergoing extensive physical and occupational therapy to relearn how to walk, feed myself, shower, dress, use the bathroom on my own, and all other activities of daily living.

Despite these challenges, I have completed a master’s degree, become an award-winning journalist, and authored a book about my experience called Worth the Pain: How Meningitis Nearly Killed Me, Then Changed My Life for the Better. I chose that title because as the horror and trauma of the infection subsided, I started to recognize all the good that came out of the experience.

A few examples:

I met amazing people. Dr. Luckeroth’s quick thinking saved my life in 2004 and she has remained a close friend since then, helping me through subsequent health issues and even letting me stay at her house at times when my mobility was limited. The hospital staff showed incredible compassion and empathy, going well above their duties by bringing me gifts, movies, or just telling a joke when I really needed one. Other survivors of meningitis or severe burns stepped forward to offer me support and a listening ear when I needed to talk about pain only they would understand.

I became more resilient. Before meningitis, my life was quite comfortable. I didn’t face much in the way of external challenges, and I didn’t go out of my way to challenge myself very often. My experience getting meningitis, recovering from it, and rebuilding my life taught me that I can do amazing things if I chip away at it a little at a time and don’t give up. Twenty years later I am still dealing with the aftereffects of the original infection, and had my right leg amputated below the knee in 2025, because my partial foot had deteriorated. The recovery has not been easy, but because of what I’ve gone through in the past, I know I can do it. Going through the crucible of meningitis has made me who I am today, and I think I am a better son, brother, husband, father and friend because of it.

I gained a sense of purpose. Before meningitis, I lived for myself and for the people I was closest to — my family and friends. My experience with this disease broadened my sense of what responsibility I have to the world. This is why I am a staunch advocate for meningitis vaccination and have provided testimony about my experience at multiple state legislatures and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. I served on the guideline development group for the World Health Organization’s “Defeating Meningitis by 2030” initiative. And I am a member of the Confederation of Meningitis Organizations (CoMO), which allows me to join forces with other amazing advocates to fight this disease more effectively.

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