Tegan Parkinson's story

My daughter was nine months when she contracted meningococcal septicaemia. She was fine on the Saturday morning and by teatime she was very sleepy and didn’t show any signs of it being anything serious.

She was rushed to hospital, in A&E she was ventilated and they told us they were treating her for meningitis. I was just sick everywhere.

We didn’t see her til a few hours later after she had been taken up to CICU. We sat outside the CICU and could hear all the machines beeping not knowing if it was our baby’s.

When we went into see her she was covered in wires and was covered in this rash. They turned round and said to us every hour she gets through is a bonus; it was like being kicked right in the chest words can’t explain.

We sat clock watching all night and for one hour to go by seemed like it was taking ten hours.

The next morning they said she had done well through the night so our hopes was high, then the next day they told us she might lose her hands and feet. They had turned black because the circulation had stopped getting to them. They tried everything including wrapping nappies round her hands and thankfully they were OK.

She then contracted swine flu so had to fight that on top of everything else.

After spending eight days ventilated and another week in hospital we finally got to bring our baby home.

I know some people are not as lucky, but I am so thankful I got to bring my baby girl home the staff at Leicester Royal were so kind and thanks to them my little girl is still here today. I’ve got a diary they made for her at the hospital which I can show her when she’s older. xx

Laura Yates
September 2011