Univ. student dies, cause uncertain
December 3, 2007 by PEARMAN PARKER
Filed under News
A University student may have died from bacterial meningitis Saturday morning.
Michael Hendrickson, 23, from Martinez, died at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Jean Chin, director of the University Health Center, sent an e-mail on the Arches listerv and announced Hendrickson was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.
The diagnosis is not confirmed by results from tests or an autopsy, said Liz Rachun, public relations coordinator at the Health Center.
Hendrickson’s family could not be reached, but friends spoke highly of him.
“He was extraordinarily outgoing and always made people laugh,” said Kathleen Mansfield, a senior from Grovetown. “He really had one of those personalities that everyone wanted to be around.”
Mansfield knew Hendr-ickson through Marvin United Methodist Church in Augusta.
A scholarship was set up through Marvin UMC for River of Life – an interdenominational service program in Lincolnton.
“He had the most beautiful smile ever,” said Crystal Parten, a friend from Winfield. “He wouldn’t say a negative word about anybody.”
Parten knew Hendrickson eight years, and he often hunted on her family’s land, she said.
Hendrickson lived off campus.
Meningitis infects fluid around the spinal cord and brain, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms are high fever, headache and a stiff nick. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, confusion and sleepiness.
The disease is communicable. It is not spread by casual contract or breathing the same air as an infected person. It is spread through respiratory and throat secretions.
Health Center staff treated 18 students with preventative antibacterial medicine.
A meningococcal vaccine is available at the Health Center and protects against four of five groups of meningococcal meningitis, according to the Health Center’s Web site.
On Jan. 1, 2004, Georgia implemented a law requiring freshmen to receive information about the disease and vaccine.
