Baby Oscar was born a ‘perfectly healthy little boy’ and his family were living in a ‘happy little newborn bubble’.
But just weeks into his life, Oscar Pennington let out a screech his mum had never heard before. At first, concerned mum Vicky Pearson just thought his incoming symptoms could be the sign of a cold but within hours, Oscar was on the verge of death with meningitis.
As the waking nightmare continued, doctors rushed Oscar to treatment to save his life before the tiny baby’s parents were able to keep vigil at his bedside. “When we eventually got to see our tiny three-week-old baby, it was heart-breaking,” Vicky said.
“A machine was doing his breathing for him, his face was swollen because of all the fluids they were pumping into his body and our tiny baby boy was lying there fighting for his life.”
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‘He cried like I had never heard him cry before’
Now living with a happy, nine-year-old Oscar, the Worsley mum is sharing how her instincts helped rescue her son back from the brink of disaster – and encouraging other parents to know the signs of meningitis before it's too late.
“Oscar was born a perfectly healthy little boy. He came on his due date and weighed 7lbs 8oz. For the first few weeks of his life we were in our happy little newborn bubble, helping his big sister adjust and trying to establish a routine with Oscar,” explains Vicky.
“He was a content and pretty easy baby. He fed and slept well. It was on November 14, 2013, when I left Oscar for the first time to go to the doctors. I was anxious to get back to my little boy and when I arrived he was asleep in his pram.
“It was on the drive home from his nanna’s when we got stuck in traffic that Oscar let out this screech. I had never heard him do this before, and I put it down to him being due for a feed. For the rest of the journey home he cried like I had never heard him cry before.”
‘I just knew something wasn’t right’
Oscar’s parents got started on his bedtime routine, but problems kept emerging. “The first thing I remember noticing is he completely refused his feed, and the crying didn’t stop,” Vicky said.
“I laid him down on his changing mat and checked his temperature. It was high. He’d never been poorly before but I thought it was just the start of a cold.
“My partner told me to give him some medicine and get him back to sleep. But I just knew something wasn’t right, my gut was telling me this isn’t normal.
“I rang 111 and they advised I take Oscar to A&E. This saved his life, 100 per cent.”
Sat in Salford Royal Hospital's A&E, Vicky could not have known what was about to happen: “We were sitting in the waiting room and I remember still just thinking he’s caught a bug,” shared Vicky.
“He was silent and slept the whole time, he didn’t budge. We were finally called in and from that moment on it was a rollercoaster, which would last a month.
“The nurse took his observations and it was when she pinpricked his fingers and he didn’t even flinch that she picked up the telephone and rang the children’s unit. We were transferred to the children’s unit where we were taken into a room and I was asked to remove his clothing so they could take a better look at him.
“This was when the doctor noticed his mottled skin and asked me to hold an oxygen mask over his tiny little mouth. I was in shock. I remember still just thinking it’s a bad cold and we’ll be home to his big sister soon.
“That was until another four doctors and nurses walked into the room. A nurse took over the oxygen mask and the other doctors started getting him hooked up on wires and taking blood samples.”
‘The tears came streaming down my face’
Oscar wasn’t presenting with life-threatening signs for the first couple of hours. But within about half an hour of treatment starting he began to deteriorate badly, according to his mum.
“We were pulled aside and it was explained to us that they were going to have to take Oscar to resuscitation [the area of A&E reserved for the sickest patients in need of life saving care] as he was struggling to breathe and was becoming very poorly,” said Vicky.
“This is when the tears came streaming down my face, I couldn’t be strong and I began to think the worst”
Oscar was becoming so unwell as meningitis took over that doctors were forced to drill through his legs to urgently get antibiotics into the little one’s bones. “We helplessly followed Oscar to resus and were shown to the family room, where we would sit not knowing what was happening for what felt like an eternity,” says Vicky.
“We had the occasional update, which was mainly ‘your little boy is very sick, we are trying our best to stabilise him’. I was sitting with his car seat and changing bag and his little blue blanket which smelt like him. I wanted my baby back.
“We still had no idea what was causing him to be so poorly but we were told they were going to drill through his leg to get antibiotics into his bones.
“The door opened and finally we could go and see my baby. I don’t know what I was expecting but when I turned the corner I couldn’t see Oscar. He was in an incubator with wires coming out of his upper thighs and arms, his face was covered with a life support machine and I just broke down.
“A nurse sat me down and I just repeatedly asked her if he’s going to die. I told her I couldn’t lose him. We were blue lighted [driven by ambulance] to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where again we faced an agonisingly long wait whilst they stabilised Oscar once again in intensive care.
Fighting for his life
“When we eventually got to see our tiny three weeks old baby it was heart-breaking,” continues Vicky. “A machine was doing his breathing for him, his face was swollen because of all the fluids they were pumping into his body and our tiny baby boy was lying there fighting for his life.
“We stayed by his side day and night, watching doctors and nurses fight for his life. The first day in intensive care was the worst for me. I felt like the nurses were working on him all day, constantly needing stabilising. It was the worst experience of my life.
“A lumbar puncture revealed that Oscar had meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia [known as sepsis].”
Oscar began having seizures a few days into his stay in intensive care, showing his brain was under serious pressure.
“We felt helpless when we had to stand and watch him having seizures, but there was nothing we could do to stop them,” said the now mum-of-three. “The seizures stayed for a few weeks and he was put on medicine to help control them.”
Turning a corner
By day eight, Oscar was doing well enough to be brought off the life support machine that had saved him. But the future looked uncertain.
“As the days went by we were moved to a high dependency unit and this is where for the first time I was able to feed my baby, he was no longer on a feeding tube. I could hold my baby and feed him. It was amazing but so scary,” Vicky said.
“In his third week at hospital we found out that Oscar had been left with brain damage in his left frontal lobe. I was devastated. I felt like I should just be grateful he was still with me but at the time I did not know what this meant for Oscar.
“Would this be something that would impair the rest of his life? Google searches told me the left frontal lobe is responsible for controlling emotions and language, the future for Oscar was unknown for us.
“It could mean we find something wrong later down the line or nothing at all.”
The family left hospital after another week on the ward and kept going back to doctors for development check ups.
Now a ‘typical’ nine-year-old, ‘boisterous, happy and adventurous’ Oscar has shown himself to be ‘incredibly intelligent’ and physically fine in the wake of the terrifying ordeal, although he is starting to struggle a little more socially, according to his mum.
“At four-years-old he knew his 12 times tables! He teaches me new things every day.”
Nine years on
“This experience has changed me as a person. I am scared of losing anyone I love, I Google every symptom and I always worry I am going to still lose him,” said Vicky in her emotional testimony. “We nearly lost our little boy many times in those early days but he was strong and he stayed with us and we are unbelievably thankful.
“It does leave you with that post-traumatic feeling. They might just have a cold but it could be something much worse again - we would have lost Oscar the first time round had we not acted.
“When we got home from intensive care, every time he was poorly for the next couple of years I would take him to A&E. There have been times I overreacted and it was actually something he didn’t need help for, I have done this with his younger brother too.
“I constantly believe I am going to lose Oscar even though I have two other children. I’m becoming better and his immune system has also gotten stronger as he’s grown up. He’s not a poorly child now.”
Follow your instincts
“My advice to anyone is to follow your instincts where your child is concerned,” Vicky says. “Had we put Oscar to bed that night we would have lost him in the night.
“Oscar is now an amazing little boy, happy, intelligent, quirky and healthy.”
Meningitis symptoms can appear in any order. Some may not appear at all. Early symptoms of meningitis can include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Muscle pain
- Stomach cramps
- Fever with cold hands and feet
This is a list of the early symptoms of meningitis, for more age specific symptoms see Meningitis Now pages for babies and toddlers, children and adults.
Common signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia
- Fever with cold hands and feet
- Vomiting
- Drowsy or difficult to wake
- Confusion and irritability
- Severe muscle pain
- Pale blotchy skin, spots or rash (see this page on the glass test for more on how to check for this meningitis rash)
- Severe headache
- Stiff neck
- Dislike bright lights
- Convulsions or seizures
Someone with meningitis or septicaemia can get a lot worse very quickly. Keep checking them.
Do not wait for a rash, says Meningitis Now. If someone is ill and getting worse, trust your instincts - get medical help immediately.
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