Still bandaged from surgeries to his hands and feet, Andy Marso, the Kansas University graduate who nearly died of bacterial meningitis last spring, told reporters Saturday he thought all college students should be vaccinated for the disease.

“It needs to be mandatory — you don’t enroll until you are vaccinated,” he said. “It only makes sense. The shot is $70. All of the medical things I went through, millions. Millions and millions of dollars.”

KU graduate Andy Marso speaks about his struggle with meningitis during a news conference as his father, Harry Marso, and brother Dan listen at the home of Leah Luckeroth, the physician who originally diagnosed Marso's illness. Marso nearly died from the disease last spring.

Before an afternoon barbecue to celebrate his recovery with family and friends, Marso spoke publicly for the first time since being released from the hospital last month.

“College kids are the ones who are most likely to get it because they live in close quarters,” he said. “It’s the same concept as the military. Those people live in close quarters; they are required to get the shot.”

Marso was diagnosed with meningitis in April, only a few weeks before his graduation. He recounted the tremendous obstacles he had faced since contracting the disease, including six major surgeries: one to remove dead skin tissue, one to amputate the front halves of his feet, two for skin grafts, and two to amputate parts of his hands.

“When I first woke up, the doctors kept telling me, ‘This is incredible that you’ve survived,'” he said. “But when the surgeries started, and I started losing fingers and toes, pretty soon it was like, ‘This has got to be a nightmare. Can I please just wake up?'”

Marso’s insurance has covered much of the cost of his treatments, but it will not cover the thousands of dollars worth of equipment and prosthetics needed to make him self-sufficient.

“We just purchased a power wheelchair,” said Ginny Marso, Andy’s mother. “Which costs as much as a rather nice vehicle.”

The barbecue took place at the Overland Park home of Dr. Leah Luckeroth, the Watkins Health Center physician who initially diagnosed Marso last spring.

“I think he is a miracle,” Luckeroth said. “When he came in, I knew very quickly what he had, and I knew how sick he was. It was very critical.”