Seb was 11 weeks old and we had just returned from his first family holiday to Spain. It was a fantastic 10 days spent with one set of Grandparents, Uncle and Auntie, and of course his mummy and daddy.

We returned on a Sunday afternoon and started to sort out our holiday washing etc. 

On the Monday Seb and I did our weekly shop then nipped to my parents where we realised that he wasn't feeling his usual self. We went straight home where his daddy joined us and took his temperature. It was normal but we gave him a dose of Calpol, just to see if it perked him up a bit. It did and we had some smiles early evening.

I had been checking his temperature all day but it read fine so we weren't concerned.

At about 11.00pm I checked again and it read slighly high so we gave him another dose of Calpol and rang a helpline for advice. We were told to put him in a vest and keep an eye on him. He was still alert and watching the moving pictures on the T.V. and he took most of his bedtime feed.

At 6.00am I woke up to find him lying very still in his crib, his breathing was shallow and there was a faint purple rash covering his body. We immediately dialled 999 where we were rushed to hospital.

After an agonising wait we were told he was very poorly and they suspected meningitis. Numerous doctors kept us informed on his condition, but everytime they came in the news got worse and worse. 

After constantly asking to see him, they eventually allowed us into the emergency room where our little man was surrounded by consultants, doctors and nurses. The disease had progressed so rapidly in such a short period of time that he was hardly recognisable. We talked to him and I just thought that hearing my voice would make him strong enough to fight.

Twenty minutes later we were told that there was nothing else that could be done for him as his heart had stopped numerous times and each time they had got it going he had managed to sustain it, but only for short amounts of time and that it was now too weak and the rest of his organs weren't getting the blood supply they needed.

We entered the room where they disconnected some of the tubes and they passed him to us where they switched off the ventilator and he passed away in our arms.

The staff there were very caring and worked very hard to save our little man but he was just too small and the disease was just too aggressive for him.

Seb is our first baby and he will always have a hold on our hearts. He will be dearly missed and never forgotten.

We decided to set up this page in memory of Seb and to help raise awarenss of this terrible disease. The strain of meningitis that Seb had was W135 which is extremely rare and there were only 34 cases of it in this country last year so we hope to fund research to prevent the heartbreak for other families.

 

Helen and Dan

xxxx

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