Our Story

On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, we received the most unimaginable and unforgettable call from a Louisiana State University detective that forever changed our lives.  I still remember the words lingering in the air when the detective reported that my baby, last born, 18-year-old daughter was found unresponsive in her dorm room. We just knew the detective was calling the wrong family.  That call sent us into a tornado of emotions. We wanted so desperately to believe the detective was mistaken. But, in the coming days, we learned our sweet and loving youngest daughter and sister died from acute viral meningitis.  How could this be? We just spoke with her the day before.  Thoughts of the last conversation when she complained of a headache and an upset stomach played over and over in our heads.  I remember telling her to go to the nurse’s office and drink plenty of fluids. She laughed, as she often did, and assured me she would go to the nurse’s office the next day. However, the next day she was gone…

How could this be? Our Rocki was a healthy and active swim instructor, life-guard and a varsity softball player- how could this be? Her oldest sister, a Registered Nurse, wondered how she could have missed vital signs especially since she, too, had just spoken with Rocki the night before. Family and friends questioned whether Rocki received the required college pre-admission physical and vaccinations; they questioned whether we knew she was “that” sick.

What we knew was Rocki was healthy– she never spent more than a routine visit in a hospital or medical facility.  What we knew was Rocki was vaccinated – she received the meningitis vaccine less than thirty days prior to leaving for college. So, HOW COULD THIS BE?  Unfortunately, it was what we did not know that proved to be fatal.  We later found out that the vaccination Rocki received DID NOT protect her from the viral strain of meningitis - only the bacterial strain!  How could we have known that? We thought by following all of the pre-college requirements-everything from the pre-admission physical, vaccinations, packing do’s and don’ts to freshman orientation that we were covered.  We thought we were prepared…   

We were left with so many unanswered questions and unfortunately it was too late for our sweet and loving youngest daughter and sister, Marakah “Rocki” Dennis, but it is not too late for others! This is why the Pink Rocki Advocacy Foundation (PRAF) is on a mission to help prevent another senseless death by providing emerging adults with the knowledge, tools and resources needed as they prepare to navigate out on their own - for the first time.

In the words of the late Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

—Lashawn Dennis
Mother and Founder, The Pink Rocki Advocacy Foundation