Adam Busuttil knows he is lucky to be alive.
After the music education sophomore fainted in his Wilson Hall shower in October 1999, he was taken to the hospital for treatment of a broken arm and a concussion.
But after examination, doctors found he wasn’t suffering from either of those conditions.
“I felt sick all weekend,” the MSU marching band member recalled. “But it was a football weekend so I just thought I had the flu and was really tired.”
Busuttil had the Y strain of meningococcal meningitis, an infection that inflames the lining surrounding the brain and spinal chord. His case prompted MSU to distribute 16,000 vaccinations for students to prevent the infection last October.
Busuttil was suffering from many of the symptoms of meningitis, but they are similar to those of the flu. He was sick the previous week, and he said meningitis is most likely to attack a person’s immune system when it is weakened by another infection.
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Busuttil said of his contracting meningitis. “I have no idea who or where I got it from and I will never know.”
After spending three weeks at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing and three more weeks at a specialty hospital in Louisville, Ky., last fall, Busuttil is now cured.
Surviving with support
Busuttil said the assistance he received while he was in the hospital from family, friends and the university was tremendous.
“Friends would sneak into the room because there was a list of people who were allowed in,” he said. “I was brought over 400 e-mails that were printed out for me by family members. It was absolutely amazing to see how many people cared.”
Busuttil said John Madden, director of the MSU Marching Band, was one of those people who did anything they could to help.
And Madden said he was glad to aid Busuttil.
“When someone close to us is suffering it is our instinct to help them,” Madden said.
“Anyone would have done it.”
But Busuttil said the simple things Madden did made it easier for him and his family. Because of the band director’s help, the family didn’t have to worry about a lot of administrative issues with classes and disenrollment from the university.
“The family had enough stress,” Madden said. “This was real life that was about to be taken from someone. The last thing they needed to be worried about was whether or not he was going to pass his classes.”
Busuttil said he is healthy medically, although he awaits one more surgery to remove a scar on his arm.
While sick, he also lost portions of seven of his fingers, which will serve as the only remaining reminder of the meningitis. He has a set of prosthetic fingers that he uses mainly when he is playing percussion requiring multiple mallets.
“I can do everything without the prosthetics,” Busuttil said. “But I am working on learning how to use them and adjusting to the difference.”
Educating others
Busuttil said his main concern is for others to be aware and knowledgeable about the dangers of the disease he once feared could have taken his life.
He says it’s hard for him to see people in the news dying from the same disease he coped with.
Michigan Department of Community Health employee Linda Reese died Christmas day after working with a meningitis bacteria sample obtained from communication sophomore Tricia Zailo. While Zailo was infected with a meningitis bacteria, she died from other causes on Dec. 18.
“There is never a concern before someone gets sick and sometimes even dies,” Busuttil said. “But when it does happen, that is when people are afraid and want the vaccine.”
Busuttil is now a spokesman for the Meningitis Foundation of American, and is working with MSU officials to create programs to educate students on the dangers of meningitis.
MSU has done a good job so far, Busuttil said, “but there is so much more that can be done.”
Busuttil encourages current students and entering students to get a vaccination.
“One shot is better than going through what I went through,” he said. “I am lucky I survived.”
In some small way, Busuttil said he is happy to be handed the greatest learning experience of his life.
He also said he feels he is able to serve as a “real person” that people can physically see.
“People believe what doctors say,” he said. “But they need to hear, understand and be aware of people who have actually had meningitis.”
Looking back and moving on
Packaging sophomore Jim Colonna said Busuttil is the closest friend he has made in the drumline they are both members of.
Colonna said he was slated to have a music lesson the day after Busuttil was taken to the hospital, but didn’t show up because he wasn’t feeling well.
“They called me to see where I was because they were concerned about people who were close to Adam,” Colonna said. “They thought for sure I had meningitis when I told them I was sick.”
Colonna had a viral back infection and spent 10 days at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital. But before they were able to diagnose him, he said he was confident he didn’t have meningitis.
“It was really coincidental how similar our infections were,” Colonna said. “But since I had a feeling I didn’t have it, all I could think about was Adam.”
Colonna said he is amazed by the progress Busuttil has made, but says he is the same person he always was. And Madden said he could not agree more.
“You can’t see the differences if there are any,” he said. “I think he cherishes his opportunities different from before. There is not a single thing he takes for granted. He is truly an inspiration.”
Amy E. Stanton can be reached at stanto32@msu.edu.
