A newborn's short life is marked by stiffness, difficulty breathing and convulsions triggered by the slightest sound or contact.
Maternal and neonatal tetanus steals the lives of nearly 60,000 babies and a significant number of mothers each year.
When Calvary Lutheran High School junior Randi Abbot learned about this disease and The Eliminate Project, a cooperative effort between the Kiwanis International and UNICEF, she knew it was worth getting the school's Key Club involved.
The Eliminate Project hopes to vaccinate more than 100 million women and their future babies people by 2015, at a cost of about $240 million. The Eliminate Project still needs about $110 million.
"We wanted to be a part of that," Abbott said.