Kathleen Mills' story

My name is Kathleen Mills.  I live in Northern Ireland and have two daughters and one son. In 1996 my healthy 6’3”, 19 year old beloved son David died of meningococcal septicaemia.  

On 21st March David went to bed at 9.30pm as he was not feeling well and was unable to go to work the next day. We rang the doctor who said it was flu. By teatime he had a sore throat and the doctor gave him an antibiotic, he vomited an hour later. I noticed the change and rang the doctor again.  David was immediately brought to hospital but it was too late my son was completely brain dead and it was only because of the life support machine keeping him alive that he stayed on until the 25th March. 

I became a member of Meningitis Research Foundation so that I could learn more about what is being done to combat this terrible disease, so that my grandchildren and others will have a better chance of survival.  I support the work by selling Christmas cards, pins, cookery books; non-uniform days, sponsored walks, street collections, home collection boxes, coffee mornings held in friends’ houses and my own.

Kathleen Mills
February 2012