Tuesday, April 25, 2006

A Mysterious Killer


Michael and I were in bed watching the local news in the wee hours here in Phoenix when a story about a cute young man named Matthew Bevil came on saying that he'd died suddenly of bacterial meningitis. His handsome face popped up on the screen and the memory of our friend Larry's tragic death came rushing back to us. The 24-year-old Matt Bevil was a popular bartender in Scottsdale and a journalism student at my alma mater, Arizona State University.

I didn't know Matt Bevil, but if his friends or family happen to see this post tonight please know that those of us who have lost a loved one to this deadly disease share in your pain. We still don't understand why this happened to our Larry, and perhaps we never will.

The medical director of Arizona Department of Health Services was quoted as saying that only about 3 percent of the people who contract bacterial meningitis develop severe, life-threatening infections, and “we don’t fully understand why some come down with bacterial meningitis and others don’t." One thing that I'm sure you do fully understand is how lucky you were to have had Matt in your life, and I hope those memories help you persevere during this dark time.


  • Read: Disease claims young bartender
  • Read: Student dies of meningitis infection
  • Visit the memorial site for Matt on MySpace here.
  • 1 comment:

    Anonymous said...

    Matt was a very close friend of mine... He would give you the shirt off his back, and back you up 100% if you were right, or wrong... He was your friend, and there was no questioning that. After doing much research on this disease, I found that there is a vaccine that everyone can get as a precautionary measure. It only protects against the 4 out of 5 serotypes of bacteria that cause bacterial meningitis... But having an 80% chance of never contracting this disease is better than 0%. I would like to raise awareness about this vaccine. Every state has more info about this on their Department of Public Health website... and you can learn more about this deadly disease through nmaus.org

    Thankyou,
    Heather M.

    I love you Matt <3