“It was the most heart breaking, most painful thing we will ever go through.”
Sammy and her husband Jordan had taken their 4-year-old son Jaxon away for the weekend, but he became unwell on their return. What started as a temperature and tummy ache was in fact meningococcal septicaemia.
Sammy, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, recalls their story here and how it’s inspired them to fundraise.
“Our IVF miracle baby boy Jaxon was an only child.
“We had taken him away for the weekend. On the day we returned that night he became unwell with a temperature and tummy ache. I settled Jaxon in our bed with me and gave him Calpol.
“He often was poorly with chest infections and I always had him at the doctors, so I gave him Calpol and if he was still off in the morning I would have booked him at the doctors as normal.
I saw a rash straight away
“In the early hours I woke up to check his temperature and when I lifted his top up I saw a rash straight away. I woke my husband and said I wanted to take him to hospital.
“By the time I got him downstairs he was sick and I rang 999. He struggled to breathe when the ambulance arrived and in the ambulance they told me they thought it was meningitis. We were just in hell; how did this happen? It was like a nightmare.
“Within just a few hours of arriving at the hospital he suddenly passed away. It was the most heart breaking, most painful thing we will ever go through.
It’s like you are in a nightmare
“From a lovely family weekend away with mummy and daddy to be gone – you can't get your head around it. It’s like you are in a nightmare and can't get out.
“Jaxon was our world and best friend. He lit up a room, he was so full of life and loved adventures.
We had such hopes and dreams for him. He was the kind of boy you just know would have made a difference in this world. He had the biggest heart and he loved everyone and everything.
“Me and his daddy miss him every second of every day.
Throw ourselves into fundraising
“We have gone on to throw ourselves as much as we can into fundraising with family and friends and have so far raised £76,000 for Meningitis Now within a few months. We hope to raise £100,000 by the end of the year.
“We hope it helps towards more research and to help other families like us. Meningitis Now have been so supportive to us and made a big difference to us through their Helpline and counselling; we thank them so much.”
