About Emily Stillman

Emily’s Story
As told by her mother Alicia Stillman

My middle daughter Emily Nicole Stillman was born September 11, 1993. From the very beginning, Emily always wanted to be on stage. As she grew up, her high pitched, squeaky voice became loud, clear and projected with confidence.  She performed countless times in her 19 years, but her crowning jewel came when she earned first place in the State Forensics Competition during her senior year of high school. 

Emily always made me and everyone else around her laugh. She was warm, charismatic and loved spending time with her family and friends. Her sense of humor, her improvisations, and her impersonations were famous among our family and friends.  

On January 31, 2013, she called home from her dorm room at Kalamazoo College, where she was a sophomore, complaining of a headache. I thought she could be coming down with the flu. She thought it was from lack of sleep from staying up the night before studying. We decided she would take a few Motrin and touch base in the morning.

Emily woke up several hours later with an even worse headache and decided to go to the hospital to make sure everything was ok.  She walked into the hospital with her backpack, her computer, her iPad and her homework. She had no idea how sick she was. 

She was first treated for just a migraine, but later that night, and into the next morning, her symptoms progressed. Her doctors began to suspect meningitis. Once the diagnosis was confirmed, an antibiotic treatment was started immediately, but Emily lost consciousness due to the severe swelling from the infection in her brain and spinal column.

Since Emily was 19 at the time, I didn’t receive a call until the next morning. On my way to the hospital, I made several phone calls. I called my husband who was out of town. I called my parents who were out of town. I called Emily’s pediatrician to confirm that she had received the meningitis shot. I also called the hospital multiple times to persuade them to double check the test results. I didn’t think it was possible that Emily had bacterial meningitis because she had been vaccinated. 

I arrived at the hospital to find my unconscious daughter being prepared for a craniotomy.  The doctor explained that for Emily to survive this catastrophic illness, they had to give her severely swollen brain room to expand. In spite of the hopes and prayers of her family who had begun to congregate at her bedside throughout that day, the swelling never did decrease.  A final medical test early in the morning the next day confirmed there was no brain activity.  Emily was brain dead, and most likely had been from the time she originally lost consciousness. 

The morning of February 2, 2013, just after 36 hours in the hospital, my daughter passed away.  She was able to save 5 lives with 6 of her organs and countless others with her bone and tissue.