Mother releases images of final moments of son who died from meningitis

[Guest Kurt]

Mason Timmins was just seven-years-old when he died of the disease and his mother, Claire, has become the latest parent to try and raise awareness of the dangers of the killer

Mason Timmins just minutes before he died from meningitis

A devastated mother has released these harrowing images of her young son just minutes before he died from meningitis to urge people to look out for other warning signs.

Mason Timmins was just seven-years-old when he died of the disease and his mother, Claire, has become the latest parent to try and raise awareness of the dangers of the killer.

Mason Timmins died in 2013

Mrs Timmins is urging parents to be vigilant with other symptoms as Mason did not have the red rash most commonly associated with the illness.

He told his mother he felt ill one morning and died less than 24 hours later.

He had had the viral meningitis vaccination but contracted the bacterial disease and died in 2013.

Mrs Timmins, 37, a teaching assistant from Walsall near Birmingham said: "It was very hard to deal with and still is.

Claire and her husband Mark with Mason, just minutes before he died

"Mason was just seven-years-old and he was fit and healthy. He was always smiling and always had something to say.

"One Monday morning I heard him coughing and then he started to be sick - I thought it was just a sickness bug as to be honest I had seen him a lot worse and it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"But by 3.30pm he started to get a temperature.

"I gave him some Calpol but it didn't go down."

Mrs Timmins contacted her husband Mark, 49, a service engineer, who rushed home and the pair took their young son to the doctors.

 

"I thought it was just a sickness bug as to be honest I had seen him a lot worse and it was nothing out of the ordinary"

Claire Timmins

 

"We got to the doctors and he got really floppy,” she said.

"The doctor said straight away he thought it was meningitis and gave him some injections.

"Mason then lost consciousness and he never regained it."

"We then found out that the meningitis had already attacked his brain and he was brain dead.

"He felt ill at 6.30am and by midnight he was brain dead."

His life support was then switched off the next day.

Pictures tweeted by Matt Dawson of his son Sammi suffering from meningitis  Photo: @matt9dawson

Mrs Timmins is supporting the petition to change government policy on the meningitis B vaccine.

The campaign was prompted by the highly publicised plight of two-year-old Faye Burdett, who was killed by the disease on Valentine's Day, coupled with the revelation that the two-year-old son of former England rugby captain Matt Dawson was battling meningitis C.

Faye Burdett before and after she contracted meningitis  Photo: Meningitis Now/PA

Faye's parents, Jenny and Neil, from Maidstone, Kent, who released a harrowing picture of their daughter taken days before she died, said the response to the petition had been "overwhelming".

Matt Dawson with his wife Carolin Hauskeller  Photo: Rex

On releasing the harrowing images of her son’s final moments, Mrs Timmins said: " It is quite shocking but that's what we want as hopefully it will make people sit up and listen.

"We want to raise as much awareness as possible and keep campaigning for this vaccination.

"It's very well for babies to have it but what about all the other children?

"There has been more and more cases and people need to think not only about the rash but the other symptoms as it can get hold quickly and can result in death.

"It is important to look for the rash - but there are other signs too."

 

Meningitis

 

Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by a bacteria or a virus

 

Bacterial meningitis

• Babies and young children are most at risk of developing bacterial meningitis
• It is more serious than viral meningitis. The symptoms usually begin suddenly and get worse rapidly
• Symptoms include a high fever with cold hands and feet, vomiting and refusal to feed, drowsiness, floppiness, grunting or rapid breathing, convulsions or seizures, dislike of bright lights and pale or blotchy skin with a red rash that doesn't fade when a glass is rolled over it

Viral meningitis

• Most people with viral meningitis will have mild flu-like symptoms, such as headaches, fever and generally not feeling well
• Symptoms may also include neck stiffness, muscle or joint pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea and sensitivity to light
• Unlike bacterial meningitis, viral meningitis does not usually lead to septicaemia (blood poisoning)
• Clinical tests are needed to distinguish between the two types of meningitis

Source

 

 

[SciTechPress]

This is incredible.... Wow.... https://anchor.fm/w/9B8C6E

[Queen Esther]

Thats  so  horrible.....  oh  no !!  Poor  kiddies  :-((