Student Ross initially just felt off colour, with no appetite, a headache and either burning up with a temperature or freezing cold. Mum Gaynor, from East Dunbartonshire, explains how his symptoms developed, the impact meningitis had on Ross and the wider family and why she’s a keen advocate for vaccines and supporting our No Plan B for MenB campaign.
“In 2023, our 18-year-old son Ross was living in a student flat and studying Computing Science at the University of Glasgow.
“On the morning of Wednesday 1 February, he called me to ask about using the digital thermometer we have at home. He explained that he was feeling a bit off colour, he had no appetite and had been awake in the night feeling feverish and then cold and he had a slight headache.
“I suggested that he come home for a few days so that I could keep an eye on him ... a decision that almost certainly saved his life.
Under the weather
“He came home at lunchtime and went to bed. He just felt a bit under the weather and he had a mild headache which he took paracetamol for.
“In the early evening, he suddenly deteriorated rapidly. Within the space of about 45 minutes, he went from feeling ‘off colour’ to presenting with the classic signs of meningitis. He said his previously mild headache was now excruciating, a pale rash was visibly spreading over his body and then he vomited. I asked him if he had a stiff neck (yes) and did the light hurt his eyes (yes).
“Alarm bells rang. I called NHS 24 but couldn’t get through. I called an ambulance, but they said it would be quicker to drive him in myself.
Ongoing monitoring
“Cue a very fast drive to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, luckily just 20 minutes from our house. Ross was quickly triaged in A&E and put on IV antibiotics and anti-virals as an immediate precaution whilst they assessed him further and did blood tests.
“He was moved from A&E to the Acute Medical Receiving Unit for ongoing monitoring and over the next few hours he went downhill very fast. By the early hours of the morning, he was unresponsive and showing signs of going into sepsis. Staff moved him into intensive care and by 6am, he was on life support. The medical team administered a lumbar puncture, which confirmed MenB (Meningococcal) bacterial meningitis.
“Ross was now critically unwell and we were told that it was unclear whether he would survive. To see your healthy, thriving 18-year-old child go from feeling a bit off colour to fighting for his life within the space of a few hours is a feeling that we, as parents, will never forget.
Three days for signs of survival
“It took three days for there to be any signs that he might survive. Staff made numerous attempts to bring him off the ventilator but he wasn’t showing sufficient brain response.
“Thanks to the amazing care of the staff at the QEUH and Ross's fighting spirit, he did start to improve and after five days on life support, he was successfully brought out of sedation and started his recovery.
“At this stage, we still had no idea what damage had been done and what after-effects he would be left with. He spent ten days in intensive care before being discharged and coming home.
Rebuilding his life
“Despite the high degree of infection and how critically unwell he had been, Ross has been remarkable in returning to good health and rebuilding his life. He has been left with some cognitive after-effects, which he is working to overcome and he returned to university later that year to start the first year of his degree course again.
“Two years later and we are still reeling from the experience that we went through as a family. It changes you forever as a parent to see your child being critically ill. When Ross celebrated his 21st birthday recently, it was an emotional milestone for us all as we knew there could so easily have been a different outcome.
“We have always made sure our two children had all the vaccines offered to them as they grew up. After Ross was so ill and we subsequently discovered that there was a MenB vaccine that was available but we didn’t know about it and it wasn’t offered to the high risk teenager group, it frankly made us furious. That’s why we are so passionate about supporting the No Plan B for Men B campaign and why I am now a Business Ambassador for Meningitis Now.
Remembered symptoms card
“The reality is that Meningitis Now were instrumental in saving Ross’s life because it was the symptoms card that I had in my purse when our sons were younger that I remembered when Ross became unwell.
“They have been critical in helping us process what happened to Ross and how we can help to make sure other young people don't go through what he did. We feel less alone.
“We are incredibly close as a family anyway and this has made us even closer. It has affected all of us in many ways – mentally, emotionally and physically – and we are still processing it all to be honest. It takes a long time for someone to recover from meningitis and we are just grateful to have Ross with us and for him to be back enjoying his life and enjoying his studies.
“I am now a huge advocate for vaccines. They save lives, pure and simple. And they should be accessible to those most at risk.”