Mount Pleasant (WWJ) -- A 26-year old Central Michigan University student has died of a bacterial form of meningitis.
LaMott Smith of Sterling Heights fell ill Tuesday when visiting friends in Coopersville near Grand Rapids. He died the next day. Florideo Passarelli of Sterling Heights is a friend of Smith and a student at CMU. He told WWJ that the school notified students about the incident.
"There was...an email that went out through Central Michigan University that told everyone who had been in contact with him in the past couple of weeks to get checked out," Passarelli said.
Passarelli offered insight as to what might have happened to Smith before he fell ill. "He had some sushi a couple days prior and wasn't feeling so hot. A couple days later he started feeling just really, really bad. Then they walked out and found him laying on the ground. I don't know if he was convulsing, or shaking, or what," he said.
Health departments and CMU want to identify people who may have come in close contact with Smith since April 22nd, including roommates, significant others or anyone who may have shared beverages or eating utensils with him.
Smith will get an honorary degree from CMU.
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