Introducing Stephenie Rodriguez: A Champion and Activist for Change within the Fight Against Malaria – Stories

August 20, 2024

Stephenie Rodriguez was diagnosed with cerebral malaria in 2019, and the disease modified her life.

After an extended and gruelling recovery, Stephenie became a champion athlete – competing in top-level para-fencing competitions around the globe – and an outspoken advocate for partnership within the fight against malaria.

Stephenie is an activist with the Global Fund Changemaker.

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a CEO, a mother, an entrepreneur, a master of parasthetism, a cerebral malaria survivor, and a bilateral bionic amputee.

I got cerebral malaria in Nigeria while on a business trip in September 2019. I got three mosquito bites on my ankle one evening. I left for home in Australia the subsequent day and was rushed to hospital two weeks later.

Cerebral malaria is a really quick killer – it didn’t take long to spread through my body. For two weeks I hung between life and death.

I woke up from a coma, completely paralyzed. Later I learned that the doctor had told my family and friends: She has lower than five minutes to live. She’s not coming back. Say goodbye.

I survived, however the injuries were serious. It took 4 years to get better — including a yr and a half of hospitalization at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and 47 surgeries. In 2021, I lost each feet to the disease.

I now understand deeply the devastation that malaria causes, and I’m dedicated – with my platform and my voice – to eliminating this deadly disease.

What did about malaria before your experience?

I assumed it was a disease that affected people in tropical regions of Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. I knew it was a mosquito-borne disease, but I used to be mostly unaware that it was one in every of the best threats to human life and a silent, ruthless killer.

I learned that malaria is an adaptive disease and its incidence continues to extend because the climate changes.

I learned that a baby dies every minute, and pregnant women suffer essentially the most.

The first step is to know the issue and the seriousness of the situation for everybody.

There are cases of malaria within the United States now. There are cases in France. We are one planet – if we do not control this, we could have much more victims of a preventable disease.

How did you hear in regards to the Global Fund and why did you select to become involved?

Photo: Stephenie Rodriguez

My son was with me once I woke up from a coma in 2019. I told him, “I don’t know how I’m going to take care of you. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”

He checked out me and said, “Mom, life is 10% what you’re given and 90% what you do with it.” And that was my call to motion. I assumed I could beat this parasite. And once I did, I might live my best life—and spend the remainder of my days correctly.

That same yr, I set a goal – a promise. I need to affect a billion lives by 2025. I spent 4 years on the sidelines, so to talk. The world stopped. So to finally get back on my feet, literally and figuratively, and fight the disease that put me on this coma – that is what I need to do.

The Global Fund does the work with the best impact and reach. The majority of the funds raised to fight malaria worldwide come from the Global Fund.

I need to support the Global Fund’s initiative and speak alongside the individuals who struggle with malaria on daily basis.

What does being a changemaker mean to you?

I consider myself a champion, and champions could make a difference.

My story, my platform, my voice, and my athletic abilities can assist start conversations, draw attention to a difficulty, and make noise where it is required and mandatory.

My job is to amplify the Global Fund’s call for motion: We need to speculate in programs that could make an actual difference within the fight against malaria.

I hope that my story as a survivor will encourage governments, aid agencies and personal partners to support the Global Fund in order that we are able to eliminate malaria.