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Kathryn Blain, Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada
I am the Mother of two children, Stepmother of three children and Grandmother of six children.
In 1995 I was shaken to the core of my existence in the sudden death of my son Michael Longo age 19 from Meningococcal Septicemia.
The loss of Michael in my life channels so much of how I live my life and what energy I put into the various aspects of my life. As a symbol of my love for him and who he was as a person I founded the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada (MRFC), along with the support of a very valued Board of Directors.
MRFC began with a mother's grief over the loss of her son to meningitis. Michael Longo wasn't feeling well on Friday. Four days later, he died. During those sleepless days and nights Michael's mother, Kathryn, knew her son had meningitis but was shocked that there was so little information about it. When she walked away from the hospital after his death Kathryn wanted to know why... why Michael had died, why so much medical attention could do so little, why meningitis couldn't be stopped, how it could be prevented... and no one could answer her questions. "I felt there was no support, no one to give me the help and information I wanted and needed," she said. "I had to go through this process by myself."
In memory of Michael, friends and family wanted to make donations for meningitis research. That's when she discovered there was nowhere to direct these funds. She put them into a trust, believing that, one day, meningitis would get more attention.
Two years later, during an outbreak of meningitis in Kitchener/Waterloo, where Kathryn lived and Michael had gone to school, reporters called for her perspective. After that interview, she decided it was now the right time for to begin putting together the infrastructure of what was to become the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada. It also helped put her in touch with people who had experienced meningitis in their own lives. "I was touched and encouraged by the people that I had come in contact with who had experienced meningitis," she said. "One man had lost his daughter and had been raising funds for research at Sunnybrook (Health Sciences Centre) in Toronto. Another had lost his son just a week before Michael died." He also wanted to be a part of a foundation that would raise awareness.
Many of these people also saw the need for a national organization and an executive core soon started, with breakfast meetings in Kathryn's kitchen. Michael Redfearn had taught Michael and produced a video of his high school experience that played during a memorial service for Michael. Dr Ronald Gold had just retired from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as Chief of Infectious Disease. He had also directed successful field trials of meningococcal vaccine at Walter Reed Institute of Research... Jeff Hutcheson reported news on a local radio station... This was the founding core of the organization and, in the time since, some people have moved away, others have joined, and meningitis has received more of the attention it deserves. The Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada has become an advocate for research and vaccination, a source of information, a focus for donation and funding, and a support for people who have experienced meningitis in their own lives. We are very excited about the vaccines that are now available, and are hopeful that we will see an end to this insidious disease in our lifetime,
Kathryn Blain
