She underwent a spinal faucet and after additional testing confirmed she certainly had meningitis, she was handled within the ICU. “They were giving me so much morphine,” she recalled, “And literally, nothing would stop the pain. I’ve never been in that much pain in my life. I literally thought I was going to die.”

At one level, she thought she did when she the ache made her lose consciousness. “Everything goes completely black,” she stated, “and I was like, ‘I just died.'”

Meanwhile, docs defined the state of affairs to her mom. “They sit her down and they tell her I’m super sick,” Kent said, “and my white blood cell count is so high that there’s a possibility I might not make it.”

With the assistance of antibiotics, Kent recovered. However, the ordeal took a big toll on her physique. “I literally lost 17 pounds in five days,” she recalled. “I went home and when my little sister hugged me, she thought I was gonna snap in half. I was so weak, I couldn’t even walk up the steps or walk 10 feet.”