Rugby star Nick Tompkins thanked Dr Hilary Jones for helping save his life in an emotional meeting 20 years after he nearly died.
The Wales international centre, 28, was close to death as a child following a deadly meningitis battle.
As an eight-year-old, the bacteria that cause the disease got into his bloodstream - leading to septicaemia. Doctors warned his mother he would lose his feet and hands.
She saw a video from Dr Hilary, a long serving member of the Meningitis Research Foundation, advising of The Tumbler Test.
She grabbed the glass and pressed it against the rash, seeing the marks clearly through it.
It was only then that she called for help - and watching that clip back in 2002 prevented a tragedy.
Good Morning Britain are celebrating Dr Hilary's 70th birthday and made the day special with guests who may not have been there but for his expertise.
The Sarries star said: “I didn’t appreciate it until a little bit later in my life. But obviously when you hear my mum speaking, and what you did, it’s really lovely to be able to meet you.”
Dr Hilary has clearly been keeping tabs on him and replied: "This guy's career is on fire at the moment - he's giving plenty of teams problems with Saracens and he's giving England a lot of grief!"
The rugby star went on: "I remember it escalating through feeling ill and people saying 'you're not too bad'.
"My mum said 'just give him calpol and put him to bed' - but if that would have happened I may not have woken up."
His mum Debbie said: “It was actually him [Dr Hilary] doing the Tumbler Test that really helped me to make sure that I got a diagnosis.
“I actually went to the doctors with Nick, having picked him up from school, and because he had one spot, and they said it was chicken pox.
"But we came home and he had a fit and I just kept doing The Tumbler Test and in the end we got into hospital and they really fought for him because his limbs had gone ice-cold, both hands and feet as well, so he was very near to not being with us.”
Asked by Richard Madeley how it feels to know he’s helped save lives, Dr Hilary said: “It’s the satisfaction of the career that we choose.
"That’s one of the saddest things about the NHS right now is that so many doctors and nurses are becoming disillusioned with a job that should be massively satisfying because you can walk away at the end of the day, some with bad memories, some with good, but say, ‘we made a difference’.”
The disease had progressed quickly, damaging his limbs. Thankfully, the antibiotics quickly turned things around and he made a remarkable recovery.
Meningitis is difficult to spot, which means around half of children who have the most common type of bacterial meningitis are sent home after their first visit to the doctors.
Speaking for the first time about his battle back in 2020, Nick said: “I don’t remember much of it so I haven’t shared my story before.
"But recently I heard of someone my age with meningitis and learnt how lucky I was.
"When you think that one in ten will die and more than one in five have long-term effects form the disease, such as amputations or brain injury, I might not have been playing rugby today.
"Mum said meningitis did have an impact on me in some ways directly after I was ill – I had problems concentrating, which is a known after effect – but I had a lucky escape.
"I hope telling my story will help others to act quickly to get the medical help they need.”
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