Meningitis stories

Rhys is a "healthy, sociable 19-year-old" - but after contracting pneumococcal meningitis as a baby, the outcome could have been very different, as mum Emma tells us

Our Community Ambassador Ian shares the devastating story of losing his grandson Charlie to pneumococcal meningitis

Since contracting pneumococcal meningitis as a baby, Sophia has been left with complex and life-long after-effects; but as mum Joanna explains, these do not define her

Chris was forced to resuscitate his four-day-old daughter Skye when she stopped breathing while feeding and went limp. Mum Sophie shares their story

Baby Ellie was originally placed on a Covid ward when she was rushed to hospital on Father's Day last year, but by midnight she was being treated for meningitis

Hours after Abigail's arrival into the world, she was rushed back into hospital when she started to jerk her head and make strange noises

When Virginia's son Jamie became unwell in 1988, doctors missed the signs of meningitis. As he deteriorated, he was rushed to hospital, but tragically passed away

Parents Emily and Adam were told to expect the worst when baby George developed complications after a diagnosis of viral meningitis

Mum Beverley was identified as Strep B positive while pregnant, but a few weeks after baby Asher was born he started showing signs of Group B Strep meningitis

Hazel was only a few weeks old when she was diagnosed with Group B Strep. Now 25, she has had a number of brain surgeries to alleviate pressure on her brain

Tests revealed that Jamielee's baby boy Leon was suffering from meningococcal type Y, which has left him with complex after-effects; but she is so glad that she was able to bring him home

Now in her teens, Eleanor discovered that she had suffered with viral meningitis when she was hospitalised as a baby. But she is determined that her after-effects won't hold her back

After watching her oldest son battle meningitis, Holly couldn't believe that history was repeating itself two years later when baby Jasper became ill

Now 15, Luke was 8 weeks old when he contracted meningococcal septicaemia, resulting in him losing the digits on his left hand

When Sofia came round after an emergency C-section, she was told that her baby boy Hunter was very poorly with Group B strep meningitis

Baby Mia was barely a day old when she started twitching, prompting her mum to take her to A&E where she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis

After being diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis and an abscess on his brain, the future for baby Zachary was looking uncertain. Thankfully, he pulled through but faces regular reviews and antibiotics

After initially thinking that she had swallowed a battery, doctors were soon treating Evie for both bacterial and viral meningitis after her temperature soared and she became very confused

Ember contracted bacterial meningitis shortly after she was born. She was taken to hospital but lost her battle with the disease just days later

Meningitis Now Trustee Rod Adlington recounts the heartbreaking events leading to the tragic loss of his son Barney to meningitis in 2005