Bright 's story

Christina Thubula (25) from Ndirande Township in Blantyre, Malawi tells MRF about when her 5 year old son Bright became sick in May 2015. 

Bright had not been well and I had taken him to several private clinics where they told me that he had pneumonia but his condition was not really improving. I noticed that Bright had a high fever, stomach-ache and was breathing so fast and I didn’t know what was wrong with him so decided to take him to Ndirande health centre. At the clinic they thought it was malaria so they did a malaria test but the results were negative so they referred him to QECH because of the way he was breathing.

When we reached the hospital a nurse started helping Bright and he was put on oxygen in the emergency room, they took blood sample, and they thought he had pneumonia as well. Whilst in the emergency room Bright started convulsing so he was given an injection.

They then did a lumber puncture on Bright and took some blood cultures and they said he had meningitis. Whilst in the hospital he was also tested HIV positive and has been told to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) and I am so confused. I am hoping Bright will recover from the meningitis and the ART drugs will work. 

We have been in hospital for 5 days and my husband who is a driver is staying at home with the five other children to look after them. 

I think I could now spot meningitis if another member of the family or village contracted it. I will tell the rest of the village what to look for if someone is sick and they need to get medical help quickly.

Christina Thubula
October 2015