Many of you will have seen and signed the online petition calling for the Meningitis B vaccine to be given to all children, not just newborn babies
This is in memory of 2-year-old Faye.
Below, Faye’s mum Jenny tells her story and why she is campaigning for change in her memory.
This is a photo of Faye, 2-years-old, who sadly lost her life to this dreadful disease.
“Faye was taken to A&E with a rash on her forehead. She was then transferred by South Bank Retrieval Service to Evelina Children's Hospital, where her heart stopped in the ambulance. They revived her and spent hours working on stabilising her."
“We were given a one per cent survival chance but she proved them wrong and carried on fighting."
“After a few days she seemed to have turned a corner, but the sepsis started to affect her more and the decision of limb removal was made. The extent of removal was massive, full leg amputation and one arm and plastic surgery."
“She was getting tired, her little body consumed by meningitis and sepsis (blood poisoning). We had to make the decision, a massive operation and she may die or we let her go peacefully on her own accord."
“We decided the latter and then watched our little girl slip away. At 9pm on February 14th she finally fell asleep forever. All this in only 11 days."
Jenny, Faye's mum
This was the link to the government petition calling for the Meningitis B vaccine to be given to ALL children, not just newborn babies - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/108072
All children are at risk from this terrible infection, yet the Government plan to only vaccinate 2 to 5-month-olds. There needs to be a rollout programme to vaccinate all children, at least up to age 11. Meningococcal infections can be very serious, causing meningitis, septicaemia and death.
In a few days we have seen this rise from a few hundred signatures to over 250,000 due to furious social media campaigns and also contacting some media.
Anything you can do to promote and support this cause is very welcome.
We are using our voice to support the petition
“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Faye’s family and friends – they know we are here to support them in any way we can."
“The response to Faye’s petition has been overwhelming, with signatures reaching over 250,000 in a matter of days. We are using our voice to support the petition to raise the profile of meningitis, keeping it high on the political agenda and increasing awareness among the public to prevent more lives being lost to this devastating disease."
“Although the introduction of the Men B vaccine on the childhood immunisation scheme for young babies was a momentous achievement, saving thousands of lives, there are still so many, like Faye, left unprotected."
“Moving forward, we continue to campaign to see the Men B vaccine rolled out, particularly to at risk groups to ensure a future where no one in the UK loses their life to meningitis.”
Sue Davie, CEO
Update (18.2.16)Official statement from Faye's parents
"We would like to thank every individual who has taken the time to sign the petition, it's been an overwhelming response. We thought long and hard about the release of Faye's pictures but we as a family who have been through the devastation of Meningitis feel all children should be able to get protected from this cruel disease that took our daughter. It's not just about Faye's death but also about the maiming of children that do survive the disease, it is life changing for the child and it's family, prevention must better."
Jenny & Neil, Faye's parents
