Beth Smiles
Amoeba Awareness
Elizabeth "Beth" Knight
Elizabeth "Beth" Knight was an intelligent, beautiful, caring, mother of 2 wonderful children. The saying "Her smile could light up a room" was never truer with Beth. Her smile could not only light up a room, but we always believed it could light up the world. When a person first meets Beth, they can instantly see her gentle and caring soul. That is what attracted people to her. She loved people and people loved her. She was always willing to reach out to someone in need. Whether it was a person she just met or a friend she had known for many years. It did not matter to her. Beth was the type of person that loved people, a "social butterfly", if you will.
Beth was a fabulous mother of 2 wonderful children. She loved them so much and they thought their mother literally "Hung the Moon". We loved watching her mature from a child into a loving and caring mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend to anyone she met. Beth was truly a blessing. We were so proud of our young, caring, beautiful daughter. Her thoughtful, caring, and loving ways she treated other people was a blessing to behold. We want Beth's legacy to live on through bringing awareness to Naegleria fowleri. We do not want another family to learn to live without their child or loved one. We know Beth would be doing the same if she was here today.
Beth's Story
What started out as a fun filled day at the very popular Lake Murray in Ardmore, OK., ended in tragedy. On Aug. 4th, 2015, Beth, along with her 2 children spent the day at Lake Murray in Ardmore, OK. trying to beat the summer heat. 2 Days after being at Lake Murray, Beth began to experience severe headaches and sought medical treatment at Mercy ER in Ardmore OK. She was diagnosed with migraine headaches, treated, and sent home. After sleeping until the early afternoon the following day, Beth began having difficulty walking, talking, and her headaches were worse than the previous day. She returned to the hospital on Aug. 8th with the classic signs and symptoms of meningitis. After a spinal tap she was misdiagnosed with bacterial meningitis. Beth continued to deteriorate throughout the night. She was placed on a ventilator and air lifted to Oklahoma City the following morning. Our loving, healthy, happy, beautiful, daughter and mother of 2 children, passed away on Aug. 10th, 2015, at 24 years of age from Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM). In less than 6 days of Beth encountering lake water, our lives were changed forever.
Our team at bethsmilesamoebaawareness.com is dedicated to raising awareness about Naegleria fowleri and the fatal disease it causes, Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM). We believe that education is the key to prevention, and it is our mission to ensure that everyone knows how to protect themselves and their loved ones from this deadly amoeba.