My name is Ruby and this is the story of my battle with Meningitis.

It’s Friday 6th November at 6:30pm and I’m at my cousin’s house playing. I have a headache but I continue to play. By 8:30pm I have a high temperature and by 9:30pm I am vomiting.

At 10:15am Saturday  my dad and mum take me to see a doctor.  I don't have a rash but my whole body hurts.  My headache is bad and I am still vomiting. I have not eaten anything today. The doctor sends me home thinking I have swine flu.

Later that evening I am watching TV; I haven’t eaten anything because I am still not hungry. My eyes are hurting and I need to turn out the lights.

It’s now 7am Sunday and I have woken up with an extreme headache, worse than before. Mum and dad can’t control my pain and I’m screaming because it's so bad. At 10am they take me back to another doctor.  The doctor does not think I have swine flu but a virus of some kind and she sends me home.   As we are leaving I vomit in front of the doctor who then decides that I should go to hospital.It is now just before midday Sunday and we are at the hospital. I’m feeling even worse – my headache is unbearable. I vomit twice more and I ask my mum to turn off the lights in the room because my eyes are so sore.  By 6:30pm Sunday I am brain dead and the doctor's put me on life support to help me continue breathing.

On Friday 13th November, my mummy and daddy make the decision to let me go and switch off my life support machine. 

I died needlessly when I deserved to grow up and have a life.  The signs were there, but everybody missed them. I want parents and doctors to know what to look out for so this does not happen to some other child.  There are many different types of Meningitis and many different symptoms and they don't all include a rash.

I need your help to make a difference.  Please donate what you can to the Meningitis Research Foundation.  With our help they can save others and stop this happening to another child.