USF's oldest Spring graduate hopes to help others after son's death
BRADENTON, Fla. - A 68-year-old Bradenton mother will graduate from nursing school Saturday to find a way to help others after her son died suddenly from meningitis.
Charlene Barnes earned her bachelor of science degree in nursing through the University of South Florida’s accelerated nursing program at the Sarasota-Manatee campus. USF said she will be the oldest spring graduate this May. Her new path began with her son Jimmy’s death.
"What can I tell about him, he was amazing. He was high-spirited. He loved sports. He loved being with his friends," said Barnes.
Jimmy was just 20 years old when he died suddenly from meningitis B in 2015. The meningococcal B vaccine became available in 2014, and her son contracted the strain that is more prevalent in the U.S.
"He took an ambulance to the hospital and my husband met him there. They diagnosed him with the flu and sent him home. So the next morning he died," said Barnes. "So when that happened I just couldn’t understand how it happened. Why didn’t we know about the vaccine? What did the emergency room miss?"
She said a piece of her was broken, and she needed to make sure that didn’t happen to others.
"That’s when I decided to go into a nursing program to see first to find out why it happened, how the emergency room could’ve thought it was the flu when it was meningitis. So I found out all those things in nursing school," she said.
During the pandemic, Barnes spent 16 months in the accelerated nursing program, spending hours studying and suiting up in scrubs at Tampa Bay area hospitals.
"During clinicals, I think as an older person, I probably had more to relate to with the people that were in the hospital. So it allowed me to have a great deal of empathy for them and realize how scary it must be," said Barnes.
Barnes said her daughter and her son motivated her to stick with the hard work.
"I think of him so much, and he’s constantly on my mind, so just knowing that he was there and he would have been proud of me," she said.
Up next is becoming a registered nurse in the public health field. Barnes said she hopes to volunteer for the Manatee County health department.
"Originally, we have thought about going internationally to volunteer. But now with COVID, it’s like there’s so much that has to be done here in the United States that I think that local is probably the most worthwhile cause that you can do," she said. "So I’m hoping that I can volunteer at the Manatee Public Health Department."
She said she wants to help educate other families about the importance of vaccines and understand what she can about diseases.
"I don’t have much time left, so I want to make sure I make good use of the time that I have to do as much of a contribution as I can," said Barnes.
Following graduation, Barnes said she will register to take her board exams this summer to become a registered nurse. Then she said she plans to return to USF to earn a certificate studying epidemiology.