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Our story,

on the morning of the 31st January 2009, our 4 year old son, Michael, was taken to hospital, as he had been poorly with a temperature and vomitting the day before, he was examined by doctor and we were told it was a viral illness, and told to "let it run it's cause", from leaving hospital mid morning, and travelling  2 miles home, Michael had deteriorated dramatically, he was very pale, vomitting, and lethargic, we rushed him straight back up to childrens ward, and he was immediately taken into high dependency unit, he spent that night fighting for his life, and never woke for three days, we were told (once lumbar puncture and blood tests had come back) that it was meningitis type B and septicaemia, our son michael aged 4 years, made a full recovery with no side affects, I wish we could say the same for our daughter, Patsy, Michaels sister, please read on !

On the morning of sunday 15th December 2013, our 2 years and 7 month old daughter, Patsy Rewcastle,  had been vomitting at around 04.00am in morning, we took Patsy to hospital at 7.00am, (the same hospital we had taken Michael in 2009) and was seen by nurse at first, then was admitted to same children ward that Michael was in, with a temperature of 40 degrees, they carried out a water sample, and when results came back, they informed us that Patsy had a water infection, to which they prescribed anti biotics, we left hospital at 13.00pm on sunday afternoon, drove home again 2 miles away, Patsy had a temperature all night, and was also sick a few times, we rang up hospital, 4 times that night, and they told us that there was nothing that they could do, and to let antibiotics get a chance to get into her system.

On monday 16th December 2013 we rang childrens ward as she had deteriated just like michael, her hands and feet were cold, she was pale in colour, we were told again, theres nothing they could do, which we replied, "we are bringing our daughter back up regardless of what you say". We took Patsy back to ward 20 and waited 1hour 20 minutes to be seen, myself (Patsys father) and her mother were constantly asking "when are we going to be seen" as her hands and feet were still very cold, we are well versed in identifying the symtoms of meningitis and septicaemia, (due to Michael) and we were getting very worried regarding how long we waited, after one and a half hours Patsy was seen by a sister, and then a consultant, who says Patsy needs immediate treatment in high dependency unit, I carried my little princess into same room, same day, more or less same time, as we did her brother Michael in 2009, it was history repeating itself, our little daughter was fighting for her life, but only this time, it was alot more serious than we thought, she had contracted a very rare strain of meningitis called W135 and also septicaemia, it had attacked her little body, affecting the functioning of her kidneys and her heart, an intensive care team tried to carry out a blood transfusion, but her heart stopped, they tried to resuscitate little patsy, but this terrible disease was so invasive, her little body wasn't strong enough, Michael snr ( her father ) and Elexis ( her mother ) were in the room when our little angel passed away, believe me, its a experience no parent should have to witness!!!!!

We are absolutely devastated, Patsy completed our home, our family, she was, along with her brother Michael (now 9 years) our life, we still cant process whats actually happened, i looked online to order her first bike just before christmas, then instead, found myself  ordering her baby pink coffin, my god, lifes so beautiful in some ways, but yet so cruel in others.

We are, along with many friends and family, running in this years great north run 2014 in memory of Patsy, to raise funds for Meningitis research foundation, please donate what you can, as people need to be aware how deady this disease is, we are going to do what we can, so that other familys don't have to go through this living hell. 

Can i say, that there's some beautiful, and kind people in this world, I've found that out first hand, and a note for parents, trust your intuition, you know your children better than anyone, if you feel the slightest bit unsure about your childs condition, don't hesitate for a second, as they say "meningitis is a race against time" its not always about the rash/tumbler test, both my kids never had a rash.

Patsy, my little angel of the north, we will meet again soon, and we cant wait to be reunited as a family, love Daddy, Mammy and Michael XXX    

Thankyou for reading Michael Rewcastle xxx