National Meningitis Association Advocate
I'm very excited to announce that Erin and I are now officially National Meningitis Association T.E.A.M. members! The NMA works to protect families from the potentially devastating effects of meningococcal disease by educating the public, medical professionals and others about the disease and its prevention. Additionally, NMA raises awareness of other preventable diseases and recommended vaccines across the lifespan.
LEARN MORE
Host, Author & Storyteller
John B. Grimes is an author, podcast host, storyteller, and meningitis survivor whose work explores what happens after life refuses to follow the plan.
At nineteen, John survived bacterial meningitis after spending eight days in a coma. He woke to profound vision loss, neurological complications, and a future that looked nothing like the one he had imagined. Rebuilding that life—often imperfectly, occasionally absurdly, and one decision at a time—became the story behind his memoir, Destiny Is Debatable: A Memoir of Meningitis, Losing Sight, and the Love I Didn't See Coming.
John is also the host of the Destiny Is Debatable podcast, where conversations about resilience, disability, purpose, family, creativity, and the unexpected turns of life challenge the idea that our circumstances get the final say.
His experience with meningitis eventually led him deeper into advocacy. John is a co-founder and Executive Director of Shots 4 Meningitis, a national nonprofit raising awareness, sharing survivor and family stories, supporting those affected by meningitis, and creating opportunities for communities to take action.
Across his writing, podcasting, advocacy, and speaking, one idea continues to shape John's work: survival is not the end of the journey—it is just the beginning.
Destiny may be debatable. What we do next isn't.
It's Time
