Bob and Dee Werner educate in memory of their daughter, Becky, pictured left, who died of bacterial meningitis. The Werners are founders of the Becky Werner Foundation and Wisconsin Meningitis Angel Team Leaders. We are so proud to have them on our team.

Werners Keep Daughter's Memory Alive

Posted: January 2, 2008 By AMY PARKHURST  Staff Writer

On Feb. 25, 2004, Bob and Dee Dee Werner lost their daughter, Becky, to meningitis, a disease they knew little about. Since that day, the Werners have devoted their lives to making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else. In the past, meningitis had been considered a dorm disease. As the medical profession learns more about the disease, laws have changed and Wisconsin now requires that students and parents going to a University of Wisconsin school be told there is a vaccination for meningitis. However, students are not required to actually get the vaccination. Becky Werner attended college part-time at Waukesha County Technical College, and since she was not going to be living in a dorm environment, she did not have the vaccination. "Becky isn't here today because I didn't know enough (about the disease)," said Bob Werner. Many families like the Werners are still unfamiliar with the disease. Because of this, Bob and Dee Dee Werner want to make sure they tell their story to anyone who will listen. The weekend before she died, Becky went to UW-Madison to visit some friends. That following Monday, she went to school and work like any other day. On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Becky complained to her parents that she did not feel well. She had flu-like symptoms and stayed home to rest for the day. Around 1 a.m., Dee Dee found Becky in the hallway, moaning and saying she was trying to make it to the bathroom but couldn't. Dee Dee helped her up and got her back to bed. The same thing happened around 3 a.m. At 5 a.m., Dee Dee again found Becky on the floor. Becky complained that her legs were tingling and that she couldn't see. When Dee Dee turned the lights on, she saw that Becky's eyes were rolling back into her head and the Werners immediately took her to St. Luke's Hospital. There, the Werners were informed that Becky's kidneys had shut down. Later that afternoon, the doctors told them Becky had meningitis. Bob Werner said he had heard of the disease, but was not aware of how potentially dangerous it was. By 9 p.m., Becky's heart stopped. There was nothing more the doctors could do for her. Her body was just not prepared to fight off the bacterial infection. In one day, Becky Werner went from being a vibrant, healthy young woman to being so sick that her life ended. In the days following her death, Bob Werner described how many of Becky's friends who stopped by the house collapsed in their driveway out of sheer despair. "That is when I knew I had to do something; I just wasn't sure what yet." Two weeks later, Bob Werner attended a conference in Indiana for meningitis survivors. He noticed that many of the kids in attendance weren't paying much attention to the speaker. "I got up and stood in the middle of the gym," Bob said. "I asked to speak and then held up a picture of Becky, showing it to the kids. I told them that this girl was just like them, and she was dead. They started listening pretty quickly." From that point on, he realized his calling. He would speak to as many people as possible about the disease in hopes they would hear Becky's story and get vaccinated. Speaking about their daughter is not an easy thing to do. "It's an emotional thing to go through," says Bob Werner. "But people don't know about this disease, or how it gets spread. Every child that gets vaccinated helps Becky to live on." Bob and Dee Dee Werner go above and beyond raising awareness about meningitis. Dee Dee Werner runs their Web site, www.stampoutmeningitis.com, plans fundraising events and handles all the organization's paperwork and e-mails. Bob gives presentations to as many schools and medical professionals as he can. Fortunately, his job, which is to sell technical equipment to schools, takes him to many different schools in the state and allows him to speak with people from all over about his daughter. His presentations begin with a video of Becky taken by her boyfriend, in which she is laughing and moving, and her blond hair is flowing in the breeze. She is fully alive. He then tells the audience that Becky is not here today because he didn't know enough. He explains the disease and how it is shared. He explains that meningitis is not just a dorm disease. Becky didn't live in a dorm, but was still infected. He explains how children as young as 15 are at risk, and that sharing things such as water bottles on sports fields or lip gloss at sleepovers can put children at risk. He further adds that one in five people ages 15-24 carry the bacteria at any given time. Bob Werner talks to schools, gives presentations at the medical college, the state school of nurses conferences, women's groups and anyone else who will listen. The effect his presentations have on those who hear them is unmeasurable.  "Becky was a big-time hugger," says Bob. "She gave me daily hugs and also loved hugging her dog. Now I hug her dog for her. It's funny. Lots of people come up to me after my presentations and ask me if I need a hug. Even big football player types offer a hug. Kids call home immediately and ask their parents if they have gotten the vaccination." Another example of the impact these presentations carry can be seen though Sharon Coyle, who has known the Werners for two years and recalls that "Bob Werner's story really hit home to me when I was able to get the meningitis vaccine for my two oldest children. How lucky that it is available, and I owe that knowledge to Bob and Dee Dee Werner."  Another parent with children attending MHS thanks the Werners for telling their story: "Because of your noble efforts, your beautiful daughter's death is not in vain. Because of her and your courage, she lives in every child who receives the vaccination. "Dee Dee Werner works hard raising money to help increase awareness and to support meningitis survivors. The money the Werners received from people after Becky's funeral was put into a scholarship fund set up to help students who are in marketing at Mukwonago High School and planning to attend WCTC, just as Becky did.  Each student selected receives $1,000, and there is enough money in the scholarship fund to give 10 scholarships.  This year, Dee Dee Werner planned the annual golf outing, a Carve-A-Thon and a Christmas concert and has raised $30,000, which will go to national organizations such as the Meningitis Angels organization, which helps families affected by meningitis, to local families who can't afford the vaccination and to families trying to buy prosthetics for their children who survived meningitis, but lost limbs in the process. Bob Werner said one of the hardest things about losing a loved one is the fear that people will forget that person. "Becky had an infectious smile. For her to be forgotten would be a crime. I do what I do to keep her alive. She is the one who is really making a difference. If she were here, she'd tell her mom and me to do something about this." Bob and Dee Dee Werner do just that. Becky truly is making a difference in this world, and she's doing it through the hearts and voices of Bob and Dee Dee Werner.

Dunn County News, Wisconsin:  Wednesday, January 9, 2008 12:01 PM CST

Menomonie High School’s (MHS) DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) and FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America)/HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) chapters are teaming up for awareness of meningitis.

Meningitis is an infection that causes inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The symptoms related to meningitis are very common to the flu: fever and chills, severe headaches, nausea, stiff neck, and sensitivity to light. There are various types of meningitis and overall antibiotics would be prescribed, but some types will require some other sort of medication. Unfortunately if contracted with meningitis, you could lose all of your limbs and possibly face death.

Meningitis is an ongoing concern as one in five students could be carriers. This bacteria is easily spread from individual to individual by sharing various items, such as water bottles, lip gloss and food.

On Thursday, Jan. 10, at Menomonie High School there will be a presentation by Bob Werner during HELP for juniors and seniors. Also scheduled the same day is a presentation for the community from 6 to 7 p.m. in the MHS auditorium. Werner’s 20-year-old daughter, who graduated from Mukwonago High School, died from meningitis in 2004, and Werner wants to spread awareness of this disease.

For more information, contact Sue Halama, FCCLA/HOSA adviser, at (715) 232-2606, ext. 40176, or sue_halama@msd. k12.wi.us; or Kelly Hoyland, DECA adviser, at (715) 232-2606, ext. 40103, or kelly_hoy land@msd.k12.wi. us.