On 14th April 2013 our little son Thomas was diagnosed with severe bacterial meningitis. That news turned our whole world upside down. He was extremely sick, spending 3 weeks in hospital and many months afterwards recovering. We subsequently found out the illness has left him profoundly deaf. Whilst the news was devastating, Thomas appears to have made a full recovery and for that we are absolutely blessed. Sadly the majority are not so lucky.

 

When we first heard the words "your son has meninigitis", everything stopped still. We consoled each other, looking out of our hospital window, watching all the runners from the 2013 Brighton Marathon run past on the sea front. We swore that whatever happened, we would both run the marathon in 2014. We would do it for Meningitis Now and raise money and awareness to try and stop other parents from hearing those words. So here we are,  Thomas is a beautiful, happy and healthy little boy. He now has bilateral cochlear implants to help him hear again and the future is looking very positive for us. It means the world to be able to say that. The harsh reality is that many others are not so fortunate. Meningitis still kills more under 5's than any other infectious disease.

 

Meningitis Now - (formerly The Meninigitis Trust) were a great source of information for us throughout the whole experience and up to present day. They work tirelessly to try and raise awareness of Meningitis and offer support to all those affected by this dreadful disease. More recently they even awarded us a grant to do a British Sign Language course, which we go to together. Signing will be an essential skill for Thomas as he grows up and integrates himself within the deaf community. It also allows us to all communicate with him in certain environments where his implants would be ineffective. We can’t thank them enough for all their support and want to do as much as we can to help this amazing charity.

 

Please dig deep and donate as much as you can to such a great cause. 

 

Meninigits Now aim to work towards a world that is free from meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia (blood poisoning) and where those are affected receive quality care and support for life.

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.