I Escaped Death Twice- Here’s What It Taught Me

It was 1995 and I was in my first year of college. As many know college kids do not take care of themselves and I was one of them. I came down with pneumonia but didn’t realize what was going on.

I had asthma my entire life and I was always prone to respiratory illness. So when I got pneumonia, I didn’t even realize it.

At first. I thought, like a lot of people, that pneumonia is an old person's disease. It is not. As it turns out, anyone can get pneumonia.

Pneumonia is a lung infection that causes the air sacs in the lungs to fill with fluid or pus, which can make it difficult to breathe. Symptoms can range from mild to severe and include:

Coughing, usually with phlegm or mucus

Fever, chills, and sweating

Shortness of breath

Sharp chest pain or belly pain when breathing or coughing

Fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

A bluish tint to your lips or fingernails

Fast breathing or trouble breathing

A fast pulse

And I got it badly. I was not able to get out of bed. My roommate had to call my parents, who drove to campus and took me to the hospital.