Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale is known for keeping secrets. Well, at least her character Aria Montgomery is. But the actress and country singer is now advocating for a cause she thinks we should all be talking about.
Lucy has joined the Voices of Meningitis campaign to inform teens and young adults about the threat meningitis poses. “[Voices of Meningitis is] spreading awareness about meningococcal meningitis, which if you don’t know about it, it’s a rare but potentially fatal disease that can…take your life within 24 hours.”
Part of this initiative involves Lucy bringing her musical expertise to an a cappella singing competition that challenges high school students to create inspiring medleys. Finalists in the competition are then given the opportunity to perform their set with Lucy. “This year [Voices of Meningitis] brought me along to launch Boost the Volume, which is a campaign that involves music. The whole underlying theme is spreading the message through the power of music. So we’re just trying to raise the statistic for teens that are getting the second vaccination.”
No one knows the importance of getting the booster vaccination more than meningitis survivor Jamie Schanbaum. “[Meningitis has] almost affected me in every way—except for my personality,” she said. Jamie had a 10 percent chance of surviving after she contracted meningitis as a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Texas. What seemed like the flu quickly led to a seven-month hospitalization and amputations of her fingers and both of her legs below the knees. “After going through everything, I learned that it could’ve been prevented.”
Jamie also warns of the increased risk of contracting the disease while in college: “There is a high need for vaccination in college because you are in a higher risk scenario… When I was going to college, I felt very invincible… I just really want to make sure no one else goes through what I went through. I literally describe it as a nightmare.” As Lucy emphasized, meningitis spreads because of the behaviors that college students partake in nearly every day: “Being in close quarters with other teens, dorm rooms, sharing food, kissing, whatever it is.”
So, what can you do to ensure you’re safeguarded against meningitis? The first step is getting that second vaccination as early as possible. From there, participating in the conversation with your friends is a great way to educate those who may not be aware of the disease’s repercussions. Lucy, who regularly gives us major life envy via her social media platforms, knows the impact social media can make with today’s young people: “It’s fun to communicate with friends, but it’s also for campaigns like this. Help us spread the word. You can go to, like Jamie said, boostthevolume.com. You can use #boostthebooster. Just talking to one person gets the word out there even more, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”