Hoosiers Vaccinate offers a space where people from Indiana can tell their stories about how they’ve dealt with diseases that vaccines could have prevented. Remember, these diseases don’t pick and choose. They can affect anyone, no matter their age, gender, background, or who they love.
To truly grasp why vaccines matter, we encourage you to read the stories of those in our community who have been affected.
Heather Banks is an Indianapolis mother, wife, teacher, and cervical cancer survivor. She found out she had HPV when she was just 6 weeks pregnant with her second child.
Ashley Goeller was only 18 years old, a freshman at Indiana University, when she was told she only had a 20% chance of living after being diagnosed with Meningococcal Meningitis.
Erica Frazier Stum was diagnosed with cervical cancer three separate times before being informed that the cancer was caused by HPV. Sadly, Erica lost her battle with cancer on December 27, 2018.
Shayla Crider Holtkamp lost her daughter to meningitis. On May 7, 1998, before there was a vaccine to protect her, 14-year-old Jolie Crider contracted meningococcal meningitis. Jolie never had a fighting chance. Meningitis took her life quickly.
The Forbes Family was your regular happy family. Their daughter Kristin was athletic, intelligent, and had just graduated from college with a promising career path ahead of her. Then tragedy struck. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer. 11 months later she died at age 23.
Katie and Craig Van Tornhout were brand new parents to their “miracle” baby Callie after trying for 5 years and 4 miscarriages. Callie was born 6 weeks early but after 12 days in a neonatal intensive care unit, she was finally permitted to go home. Callie soon developed a cough and was rushed to a pediatric intensive care unit.
At three years old, Bowser Branson was a happy and funny child who was up-to-date on all of his immunizations. Sadly, none of those shots could protect him from cancer. Bowser was diagnosed with Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a cancer that effects the blood cells, and doctors ordered aggressive chemotherapy to battle the disease.