World Meningitis Day 2024

Christine started the Meningokockfonden (Meningitis Foundation) in Sweden when her son Mathias died in the summer of 2019 after contracting meningitis and septicemia. She set up the Foundation after becoming aware of how little information and understanding on meningitis there is in Sweden. The primary goal with the foundation is to share information and raise awareness to the public about the symptoms and the possibility of getting vaccinated so that other children and young people can be saved in the future.

Christine has a professional background as a CFO and top-level manager including board positions.

Bacterial meningitis and I began our difficult relationship in April 2009. During that time, the disease tried to take my life, but thanks to my mother and an incredible team of emergency healthcare professionals, I fought back. At the time, I wasn’t a student in college or boarding anywhere—I was a full-time employee living my life.

After a month in the hospital, surgery to address bacterial burns and nerve damage, months in a wheelchair, and enduring immense pain, I survived what would become one of the most challenging periods of my life. I count myself as one of the lucky ones. I have all my limbs and faculties, but my relationship with bacterial meningitis didn’t end when I left the hospital. Although I was “out of the woods,” the after-effects lingered. Nerve pain and mental health struggles continue to be a part of my life. My body will never be the same as it was before this encounter.

Despite everything, I’m now grateful for where I stand in this journey. It’s taken me a long time to make peace with what happened and who I’ve become. I am proud of who I am today and incredibly thankful for everyone and everything that has supported me along the way.

I share my story to raise awareness about this devastating disease and to show how art and creativity have helped me cope and bring light back into my life. My relationship with bacterial meningitis started as something dangerous and deadly, but now, we walk together—hoping it never forms a bond with anyone else.

Katie Thompson is an intuitive artist, writer and advocate based outside of Charleston, SC. Her multidisciplinary work explores abstractions of space and self as a disabled woman living in the rural south and has been exhibited and published internationally. She is also the author of children's woodworking book Little Beaver Builds a Bed, and recently created a new podcast, Chronicles of a Dreamworker. Katie is a patient advocate for causes such as meningitis and disability awareness after having a spinal cord injury and contracting bacterial meningitis at 18. She is also the creator of the Women of Woodworking project and serves on the Board of Trustees for The Furniture Society. Katie is married to her husband, furniture maker Joseph Thompson, and they have two children together.

Dr Tom Nutt is CEO Meningitis Now, a UK-wide charity that funds scientific, medical and social research, raises awareness of meningitis and the importance of vaccines, and provides support to people and families who have been affected by meningitis.

Prior to that, was CEO of an award-winning health charity that aimed to improve health and care services by capturing the voice and lived experience of patients, service users and carers. He has also worked in health and care policy and was originally an academic historian based at the University of Cambridge, where he lectured and researched socio-economic and population history.