At age 21, Leslie was a healthy college student who was looking forward to starting her career as an elementary school teacher. She didn’t realize that chickenpox was not only a threat to children, but also to otherwise healthy adults. She caught chickenpox while student teaching and her illness was quite severe, suffering with blisters from the top of her head down to her knees.
Leslie distinctly remembers her illness and wants others to know chickenpox can be serious, but thankfully can now be prevented with vaccination.
Leslie shares the story of how she suffered from chickenpox during her senior year of college.
Kerri’s 1-year-old son Rory got a terrible case of the chickenpox in November 2019 due to a lack of community immunity (also referred to as herd immunity). Kerri shares how her son’s serious case of chickenpox led her to become a vocal vaccine advocate, and why she hopes other parents will join her in speaking up for vaccines and asking state legislators to strengthen school vaccination requirements.
Listen to Rory’s story, as told by his mother Kerri.
