Our son, Barney was seven years and seven months old when he died from pneumococcal meningitis. Barney was a very energetic and healthy boy. He was a very caring boy and lived life for fun and enjoyment for himself and everybody around him.
At the beginning of December 2004 my mum became ill and was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis. She was treated in hospital for six weeks during which time she suffered a stroke and eventually died of heart failure.
Barney became ill with a bad cough during December, he seemed to be recovering but didn't seem 100%. On Friday 14th January 2005 we kept Barney off school because he had been sick in the morning and felt unwell; during Saturday he seemed to be improving and was eating a little and playing with toys. During Saturday night his temperature went back up and he started being sick again. We took him to the out of hours GP on early Sunday morning, the GP checked him for meningitis as I told him about my mum. He was still displaying symptoms of a 'bug' and we were advised to continue with Calpol unless he developed any additional symptoms.
That day we were contacted by the hospital to say my mum had died.