Thain's story

19th February 2019

Jennifer’s young son Thain was lifeless, sleepy and pale. She saw several doctors before he was taken by ambulance to hospital, where meningitis was diagnosed. Thankfully Thain pulled through but he has been left with after-effects

Thain bacterial viral meningitis case study

Jennifer, from Forfar in Angus, tells their story here.

“My little boy Thain, at 8 months old, was totally lifeless. He hardly moaned or cried all morning."

“I called an ambulance but all his stats were fine. They took him round to the local hospital and his temperature was 37.5. In their words he was just overtired, although he had slept 12 hours the night before."

“I had an appointment at the doctors later on, so I got them to check him his temperature. It was now 38 degrees. They said it was just viral and to give him Calpol."

In a daze

“We went to my parents and he was in his pram and he was like in a daze."

“The next day he turned jaundiced and still showed no real movement."

“We called the ambulance again, who said his stats were fine but they agreed finally to take him to the main hospital."

“When we got there the next thing he's wired and blood samples are taken, a CTS scan is done and he’s getting treated for bacterial meningitis."

“He was meant to get a lumbar puncture but he was just too sore and they couldn't touch him or hold him."

Viral and bacterial meningitis

“Anyway, two days later the results came back and he had viral meningitis, bacterial meningitis, a cold / flu virus and sickness / diarrhoea virus."

“The exact words of the nurse were, "If you had left him another hour he wouldn't have lived"."

“My little boy has just turned 4. He has speech delay and sensory difficulties, and we are unsure if there are autism and behaviour problems in there as well. Every day can be a battle.”

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