‘I thought it was just a cold’: Student shares warning after meningitis nearly killed her

19-year-old Ketia Moponda is spreading awareness after she mistook meningitis for the flu and nearly died.

After one freshman college student’s ‘freshers’ flu’ turned out to be a near-fatal case of meningitis that cost her her limbs, she is speaking out to warn others. 

In September 2024, 19-year-old Ketia Moponda, a marketing and advertising student, was eight days into her freshman year at De Montfort University in Leicester, England, when she started to feel sick, BBC News, the New York Post, and People magazine reported.

However, thinking it was a non-serious head cold that began with a cough, Moponda did not immediately treat her symptoms. It wasn’t until she started feeling drowsy during dinner one evening that she decided to finally take some cold medicine before going to bed. When she woke up the next day, she felt worse and phoned home to her cousin and best friend, telling her at one point that she felt like she was “going to die.” 

When she didn’t get in contact the next day, her cousin called the university. The freshman was found unconscious in her dorm room in a bloody mess before she was rushed to the ICU at Leicester Royal Infirmary hospital.

The marketing and advertising student was diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia—a bacterial infection caused by bacterial meningitis, which led to sepsis. She was placed in a coma while in the hospital and woke up days later, unable to speak. It would be several days before her speech returned. However, she ultimately ended up having her fingers and both legs amputated in January. 

“I have no memory of any of this, but I’m lucky to be alive,” she said per the outlets. 

When Moponda arrived at the hospital, her blood oxygen level was at 1% and circulating poorly through her body. 

“My skin was colorless,” she said. “My feet were green and swollen. My organs were failing, and doctors told my family that if I woke at all, I’d likely be brain dead.”

According to Johns Hopkins, there are two types of meningitis: viral, which is more common and typically non-life-threatening, and bacterial, which, though rare, can be fatal. While meningitis can have similar symptoms to the flu, it can also cause a stiff neck. Treatment, which is required quickly, typically involves antibiotics, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The disease, spread through saliva, causes the swelling of the lining of the brain and spinal cord (called meninges) and can kill within hours, according to the Menigitis Research Foundation.  

“Basically, my legs had died because of a lack of blood going to them,” Moponda continued. “It was terrible.”

She added, “I just kept crying all the time. I felt so hurt, it was killing my spirit.”

The college student, who had led a flourishing, active lifestyle and aspired to be a model, said she “just cried” when she woke up from her procedure. 

“I felt like my whole life had just begun, and now I had to start all over again differently,” she noted. 

Part of that “difference” is spreading awareness about the risks of contracting meningitis. While many colleges and universities require students to enroll in a vaccine against meningitis, precautions should still be taken. 

Students are encouraged to keep their germs to themselves, cover their mouths when coughing, wash their hands frequently and before meals, avoid sharing drinks and straws, and keep toothbrushes, spit cups, and the like separate. Stay ahead of flu-like symptoms by monitoring, notifying friends and family, and seeking medical care as soon as things worsen or change. 

Moponda, who is arriving at the one-year anniversary of the beginning of her ordeal, remains positive. She has vowed to continue to pursue modeling, noting, “You don’t have to hide who you are.”

“This doesn’t make me less of a person,” she said. “I am unapologetically me, and I want to help others to feel confident about who they are and how they look.”