My son was born in April 2002. In January 2003 my life was turned upside down. I had put him to bed for his afternoon nap and he was well and happy. Half an hour later I heard that scream, you know, the one they tell you about, the high pitched scream that they say is "different". It was different. I thought something may have hurt him and went rushing upstairs, I was not prepared for what I saw. His leg was black, and he was screaming at the top of his voice. I picked him up and ran downstairs calling for help. By the time I had got to the bottom of the stairs his other leg was black too. I screamed at my husband to get in the car and we rushed to hospital. When I ran in with him I was rushed through to triage and as the nurse was talking to me his arm went black in front of her. She hit a button and seconds later we were surrounded by people. I had no clue what was going on, Barnaby was still screaming and tubes were being put into him left, right and centre. I was terrified and so was he. Minutes later a doctor took me to one side and told me that I should prepare myself as they believed that Barnaby had about three minutes to live. The words rang round in my ears and it all seemed like a hideous nightmare, but it was actually happening. Anyway, three minutes came and went and Barnaby was still fighting, still screaming. We were transferred to a room- noone in, noone out. I was told that he had Menigitis Strep B and Septicemia, the likes of which had rarely been seen (they took pictures to use in teaching journals that are still used now). It was unlikely he would survive, and if he did he could be brain damaged, lose limbs and would never be fully able. That was 11 years ago! He is 12 in a couple of months, he is fully able. He is not brain damaged. He has no significant health issues at all, except his Dyslexia and the fact that he is shorter than the rest of our extremely tall family! He is a joy every day and I thank my lucky stars he is here. He is a fighter through and through. He is tough! So im going to be tough too! Im going to spend this year training and getting in shape and then in September I am taking part in X Runner to raise money for Meningitis Now. I am doing this to help others who have been, or are in my position and to say thank you for all the support we received then and now. Survivors guilt was with me for years, but Meningitis Now helped us all.

Please donate to my cause. I want to give hope to those who need it and by promoting this charity maybe we will help save a life too.   

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Cate x