TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – A Tucson mother is speaking out about meningococcal meningitis ahead of the new school year, more than two decades after losing her teenage son to the disease.
Leslie Maier’s son Chris was a 17-year-old senior at Sabino High School when he died in 2005. He had just helped his team win the state soccer championship.
“My son Chris was a senior at Sabino High School, he was 17 and he kicked the winning goal for Sabino to become the state soccer champions,” Maier said.
From championship to crisis
Two weeks after the win, Chris was having his state championship pictures taken when he started to feel sick. He was sent home from practice with a high fever, a pounding headache and chills. Through the night he tried warm baths to stop the chills but ended up vomiting. The plan was to take him to the doctor the following morning…