Meningitis stories

After contracting meningococcal septicaemia as a 2-year-old, Xavier, now 22, has been left with severe after-effects. Mum Lynn tells their story

Baby Joe spent eight weeks in hospital after being diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis, and has been left with a range of complex after-effects. Mum Cherelle tells their story

Laura and John weren't initially concerned when Sadie picked up an ear infection, but when her temperature wouldn't come down and she started vomiting they knew something was wrong

Denise had been feeling unwell for a few months, but her headache suddenly got so severe that she ended up in a coma, fighting for her life

Ten minutes after returning home, Nadia was rushing daughter Ebonie to hospital where she was treated for bacterial meningitis. While she pulled through, Ebonie has been left with complex after-effects

By the time Emily was admitted to hospital for the third time, she only had a 10% chance of survival. Mum Bex recounts her harrowing experience

Baby Rio was just over a week old when he became poorly, on the hottest day of the year. Mum Leah, from Didcot in Oxfordshire drove him to hospital that night, where bacterial meningitis was diagnosed

Eight months after having to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off her son's life support machine, mum Katie recounts the events leading to her loss of four year old Enzo

Diagnosed earlier this year with meningoencephalitis, a form of viral meningitis, Catarina has been left with after-effects but is slowly trying to return to normal

In the run-up to Christmas in 2017, Alice was feeling unwell with a cold, which over the course of a few days revealed itself to be something much more serious - bacterial meningitis

Lewis went to bed with flu-like symptoms, but by the following morning his condition was deteriorating rapidly and he sadly lost his life to MenB. Through organ donation, he has helped save the lives of six others

After an initial diagnosis of a viral infection, doctors then found Bea to be suffering from deadly pneumococcal meningitis. Mum Louisa shares their terrifying story

Within the space of an hour, Leo had gone from being a giggly baby boy to seriously ill, prompting parents Georgia and Jack to call quickly for medical help

Holly was on her way to Norway for work when she started feeling unwell at the airport. Deemed unfit to fly, her symptoms worsened until she was rushed to hospital with a tell-tale rash

Michael was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with meningitis after he fell ill in 2015

Katy had been suffering from progressively worse headaches, but when she lost her speech and use of one arm, her mum took her straight to A&E, where she was diagnosed with viral meningitis

Sarah thought she was coming down with a cold, but was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis after her organs started to fail

At just 19-years-old, Nadia G from Oldham in Lancashire came down with flu-like symptoms including hallucinations, fever and vomiting, which she later learned were the first signs of meningitis.

Paul Hodgson from Darlingon in County Durham contracted meningitis as a baby, more than fifty years ago.

Claire didn't realise that adults could get meningitis, until her mum Gwen became unwell and unresponsive