‘I lost both my legs to meningitis at university in the Midlands - we need a student vaccine programme now’

Ketia Moponda, aged 20 from Wolverhampton, was eight days into her time at De Montfort University in Leicester when she was struck down with what she initially believed to be freshers' flu - a mild cough new students get in their first few weeks.

The marketing and advertising student was found unconscious in her room and rushed to hospital and diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia, which caused bacterial meningitis, which led to sepsis, and she underwent amputations to all ten fingers and both legs.

Speaking after two people, including one university student, have died of meningitis amid an outbreak in Kent, Ketia urged the government and universities to run awareness campaigns and vaccination programs for students.

Ketia who shared her story with Talk to the Press, said: "I am devastated that there have been two deaths due to meningitis. I feel so sad that lessons haven't been learned since I last spoke out. It's unforgivable not to have made more of an effort to prevent this.

"Universities and the government need to run campaigns using young people and social media so that students can relate to them.

"Meningitis progresses very very quickly. It's a matter of seconds between life and death. A vaccine can really reduce the likelihood of fatalities. It was terrifying for me - my life did a total 360. I planned to go to uni, travel the world, get a job, but my life is completely different from how I imagined it.

"Universities have a duty of care towards students. This is their first time away from home and their parents rely on universities to make sure young people are safe. If you can be strict on rules around drinking etc then you can notice if someone is very unwell. People need to be aware of the symptoms.

"If you think you have a cold but suddenly you're so tired and faint, like you can't stand to get a glass of water or to get to the loo, then call an ambulance or get to hospital. If something doesn't feel right just get help. It's not worth risking."

Ketia's illness began with a cough on September 25, 2024.

She had told friends and family she had started to feel extremely drowsy and when they hadn't heard from her - they alerted the university. An ambulance took Ketia to ICU at Leicester Royal Infirmary hospital and her mum and sister were blue-lighted to join her by police.

Ketia was put in a coma, and woke two days later. "I couldn't see or speak and it was a whole week before I started speaking," she said. "Most of the time I didn't know where I was."

The skin on Ketia's fingers and feet started to shrivel and become swollen and painful, due to lack of blood flow.

Two weeks later she caught a flesh-eating bug on her buttocks. Medics grafted skin from her thighs to her bum. 

Ketia was transferred to Queen Elizabeth hospital, Birmingham, in December, where all her fingers and thumbs, and both her legs were amputated just below the knee, on January 7 2025. "Basically my legs had died because of a lack of blood going to them," she said.

"It was terrible. I just kept crying all the time. I felt so hurt, it was killing my spirit. I woke from the operation and just cried. I felt like my whole life had just begun and now I had to start all over again differently."

Ketia was in hospital for five months following her illness. "I'm lucky to be alive," she said. "When I got to hospital my blood oxygen level was at 1%. The blood wasn't circulating around my body and my skin was colourless. 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."

Ketia, who used to go to the gym every day and dreamed of becoming a model, left hospital on February 24, 2025.

In May she got prosthetic lower legs and was attending a rehab centre in Wolverhampton.

Ketia is still waiting to see if she'll have prosthetic fingers too. It usually takes a year to learn to walk again, she said, but determined Ketia is already walking in parks unaided.

She plans to go back to running in the gym when she can and is determined to see through her modelling career, she said. She said: "They don't know how I got the illness - it's heartbreaking. I loved being active and I will be again.

"At first I thought I'd give up on modelling but I won't. You don't have to hide who you are. This doesn't make me less of a person.

"I am unapologetically me and I want to help others to feel confident about who they are and how they look.

"I'm very headstrong and I plan to break all the barriers of disability."