“Meningitis shattered our family. It tried to destroy our spirits, but we are still fighting.”
Eleven-year-old Franki fell ill in March 2024. Thankfully he pulled through, but the road to recovery is long and he and his family have been through hell.
Mum Martine, from Nottingham, tells us how they are determined to go as slowly as needed to get Franki strong again.
“March 27th is a day I will never forget. The day before Franki, who was just 11 at the time, came home from school saying he felt awful, which didn't surprise me as he'd had this awful viral infection for around four weeks.
“I told him once we were home to go to bed and I’d make sure he had some medication. That night he was so quiet, saying he had been playing football at school and because of that his right leg felt painful.
“I put a wet cold cloth on his forehead. I took his temperature and it seemed a little high, but nothing major. I told him to tell me if he got worse. He was up and down through the night. He couldn’t sleep and felt dizzy. I took his temperature and it had seemed to be lower than the last time. So, I tucked him in bed and told him I loved him.
Feeling sick
“Around 6.30am Franki woke me up saying he was feeling sick. I told him to get in my bed whilst I made him a drink and checked his temperature again. It was high, so I went down to get more medication to lower his temperature. Because both myself and Franki often had chest or viral infections I didn't think anything of it at first.
“Then he went to the bathroom to be sick. I was ringing my boss to tell her I wasn't coming in, so I didn't hear him struggling. I came back upstairs and he was sat on the edge of his bed, eyes closed, making noises, his hands twisted backwards.
“I screamed his name, trying to get him to open his eyes. I knew then something was so wrong. He then fell forward and started shaking. Unknown to me he'd had two seizures, a stroke and had a collapsed right lung.
Rushed to hospital
“I rang 999, paramedics came and we were rushed to Queen’s Hospital in Nottingham. They gave him head scans, took bloods and tried to wake him, but nothing. He then had another seizure and bit his tongue.
“After what seemed an eternity I managed to get hold of Franki's dad through his own dad, who then drove Luke to the hospital. Hours seemed to pass by. We were told they needed to place Franki into an induced coma due to swelling on his brain.
We were allowed to visit him once they had made him comfortable. We were told it was a rare form of bacterial meningococcal meningitis called meningoencephalitis. I just looked at the doctor and I remember hearing the words, but I was in shock. Luke and I just stared at each other, we couldn't believe this was happening to our little boy, our best friend.
“At first I was terrified of all the wires and machines, but we eventually became used to them. Franki was given a private room and we stayed with him every night and day.
Known as the warrior
“After many days of his vitals crashing and then soaring, they tried to wake him slowly from his coma, but he was so distressed and they sedated him again. Eventually when he did come out of the coma it was the second hardest thing to watch. It happened so quickly, but that broke me. He couldn't open his eyes, he was trying to talk but only scared sounds came out. He was waiting and crying but in fear.
"This went on for many days until he finally opened his eyes. He couldn't talk or walk, eat or swallow. I ended up saying, 'squeeze my hand, one for yes, two for no' every time I asked him a question, but he was so weak.
“Even then he was having cluster seizures. He had sensitivity to light, sound and touch. He had nightmares and wouldn’t communicate for days.
“In the end we stayed in the hospital for a month. He was known as the warrior, due to the fact he had such a small chance of survival when we arrived.
Made us all cry
“A few days after he was discharged, we visited the intensive critical care unit Franki was on and he met the nurse who cared for him that month. She started to cry, which in turn made us all cry. But little did I know the aftermath and realisation of what happened would turn into PTSD.
“For the past year I have had to help Franki get washed and dressed, which doesn’t bother me, make sure his food is cut up, and get him polarised sunglasses and ear defenders. He's not been in school for the whole year and even now he's only in a support room three times a week because he cannot cope and becomes very tired.
“He has had a year of physio, occupational health and many more amazing people helping. He finished his physio and sessions with the physiologist, but we are still very much on the road to recovery.
“Many things changed the day of the 27th March 2024, especially sadly for my mental health. I became obsessed with Franki and illnesses and never allowed him anywhere - not even to the shops without me.
Decided to write a book
“In the end I needed to talk about my feelings, so even though I was starting counselling, I decided to write a book. I found the more I wrote, the more I realised it was helping. Halfway through the book, I realised I didn’t want to think of him, scared and silent, in the coma, which used to upset me.
"So, I decided to imagine a place children go to when they are put in an induced coma. I thought that, by creating a world with some quirky characters, it could help parents, including myself, to imagine it as a great dreamy sleep.
“Before I knew it I was creating chapter after chapter. And this book, once published in March/April 2026, will help many parents whose child has had a brain injury, been in a coma or have a child that worries. For the parents it's just about knowing they are never alone and that there are always people to talk to.
Most amazing 12-year-old
“Franki is, in my eyes, the most amazing 12-year-old I have met. He also lost his hair after his illness, and yet he pushes himself every day to get to where we are now.
"Meningitis still causes me pain to this day, and I think it will take a long time to get over what happened, but if it wasn't for the amazing medical staff at Queen's paediatric intensive critical care unit, I wouldn't have my beautiful son today.
“Meningitis shattered our family. It tried to destroy our spirits, but we are still fighting. Franki still has bad days, more than good, but he's still here and that's all that matters. We take each day as it comes now. And live every day like it's our last.
“The road is long, and we have been through hell, so we are determined to go as slowly as is needed to get Franki strong again.”
