Meningitis stories

Ben contracted meningococcal septicaemia during the first few weeks of his first year at uni, in November 2019. He had his MenACWY vaccination, but was struck down with MenB

Laura still suffers from debilitating migraines a year after contracting viral meningitis, but she is taking recovery one day at a time

Lel's recent experience of bacterial meningitis is a timely reminder of us all to keep meningitis in mind

Ayesha was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis when she was 17. She has been left with a number of after-effects. Despite this she is not letting it stop her achieving her goals.

Daniel was in hospital for 6 days, isolated in a room until the type of meningitis was confirmed. Daniel had contracted viral meningitis

Logan was born in October 2018, happy and healthy. But just a few days later his temperature started to climb and after being taken to hospital, bacterial meningitis was diagnosed.

Tammy contracted meningococcal (meningitis) Y at age 32, she suffered life-changing after-effects, but has come out fighting.

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

Lynne was diagnosed with viral meningitis last year, after she suffered a blinding headache, lost her balance and collapsed. Thankfully, with support from Meningitis Now, she is making a good recovery

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

Imogen had a severe headache and was slurring her speech. She rang her mum, who insisted she phone 111 before rushing round to take her to A&E, where meningitis was diagnosed

When Rebecca's migraine medication didn't touch the severe headache she had, she knew something wasn't right. Her GP sent her to A&E, where she was diagnosed with viral 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

Tim, from Totterdown in Bristol, was one of the children caught up in the original meningitis outbreak in Stroud in the 1980s that saw the birth of Meningitis Now. He tells his story here

10 minutes after leaving hospital with a diagnosis of cluster headaches, Thomas had a seizure caused by what turned out to be bacterial meningitis

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

If Ellamae hadn't returned home after attending a funeral, she would never have found brother Harrison - who had collapsed - in time to save him

Mark contracted bacterial meningitis twice – and has now thanked Meningitis Now for the support he was given to help him on his road to recovery

When Jill’s newborn baby fell ill in July last year she was told it was “just viral meningitis”. Initially relieved, she started reading up on it and realised there was no “just” about it.

On the morning of Jackie's 40th birthday, she was very unwell - shivering, feeling sick and with a high temperature. Luckily, doctors reacted quickly; daughter Rosie tells her story