Wagga Wagga City Council will join communities across Australia and around the world in shining a light on World Meningitis Day on Sunday 5 October 2025.
The trees along Fitzmaurice Street will be illuminated purple, the awareness colour for meningitis, as part of the national Light the Road Ahead campaign led by Meningitis Centre Australia.
World Meningitis Day is held annually to raise awareness about meningitis, a disease that can strike suddenly, progress rapidly, and have devastating outcomes.
This year's theme highlights the global roadmap to defeat meningitis by 2030, calling for stronger awareness, prevention, treatment, and ongoing support for families affected.
Local resident Emma, whose baby son had pneumococcal, shared her family's story.
"My baby son spent two weeks fighting pneumococcal in ICU and a further three weeks in hospital, he now has lifetime disabilities," Emma said.
"We thought he just had a virus, and in hindsight we should have pushed for him to go to hospital sooner.
"Raising awareness of these Meningitis-related diseases is so important so people know to trust their parental instinct and get help quickly which means no other family needs to go through the trauma of knowing if your baby will live or die like we did."
Meningitis can affect anyone, but infants, teenagers, and young adults are at higher risk. Symptoms often begin like the flu - fever, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, rash, and confusion - but can escalate in hours. Prompt medical attention is critical.
