Cardiff boy's year in hospital after meningitis collapse

When teenager James was taken to hospital his family suspected flu - but on arrival at A&E he collapsed with pneumococcal meningitis.

Within hours the then 15-year-old was undergoing surgery to ease pressure on his brain.

As the Cardiff pupil fought for his life his family were terrified he would die.

But more than a year later James is back home and on the mend.

His father Alun remembered arriving at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on 4 January 2023, with his wife Janice, and James.

When they first arrived James was "normal". But things went downhill, his words became slurred and he collapsed.

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Over two or three hours doctors monitored him trying to figure out what was wrong.

Celebrations for James's 16th birthday in hospital

After a scan they realised there was pressure on his brain.

"The next thing we knew they were going to make a hole in his head to relieve the pressure," said Alun.

Things got worse and James was transferred to the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital, on the same site.

"On 8 January we watched him crash multiple times," Alun said.

"We got used to watching the monitors in intensive care and watching the oxygen pressure and all those numbers.

"I remember being stood and watching those numbers going up and up and then into freefall. I could tell it was bad."

James's first trip out beyond the hospital with his parents

He heard a nurse ask for help.

"When an intensive care nurse says, 'Can I have some help please?' you know that is serious.

"You hear about terror and terrorists but for the first time in my life I felt total terror. Watching my son, I thought he was about to die in front of my eyes."

The next day the family were told James was not expected to survive.

It was arranged for him to be baptised - the family attend Cathays Methodist Church in Cardiff - on 11 January.

Alun said: "As a parent all you want is hope and all along we kept saying, 'Is there any hope?'

"They said, 'Things are looking bleak' and we said, 'Is there any hope?'

"They said we would need a miracle. We said, 'We'll take it.'

James, pictured with Daisy the therapy dog, was so ill doctors did not think he would survive

Against the odds James started to make a recovery. He went though intensive physiotherapy.

He has had to relearn how to walk and talk.

Over the year James had nine operations, including brain operations, a tracheostomy and three kidney stone procedures.

"I do not know how we coped in the moment," said his mum Janice.

"As a family you keep going and as a church we had people praying for a miracle and we had people supporting us as a family. People rallied around."

Her son was "incredibly resilient".

"He has kept going and he has been able to keep his sense of humour," she said.

The family home has had to be adapted for his homecoming on Friday, which followed a goodbye party at the hospital.

A ground floor bedroom has been built for him with access to a terrace in the garden, the bathroom has been made accessible and ramps have been installed.

James was delighted to be home, and recalled having a "slightly eventful" year.

Now 16, he remembers nothing of the day he went into hospital.

The last thing he remembers before that is of 2022.

"I remember just going to school and having a normal day and the next thing I remember is being in hospital," said James, a fan of the Cardiff Blues rugby side and Cardiff Devils ice hockey team.

While being in hospital had been a low point, singing with the "crazy" hospital staff had been fun, with Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy a favourite.

James said: "It's great to be back home. It's genuinely amazing because I have a bigger bedroom now. And I have a door that goes straight out to the garden."

What he really wants though is solid food.

At the moment he is unable to swallow and is fed through a tube into his stomach.

He said: "It's obviously not as good as real food. There are not many things as good as real food."

He is already planning his first proper meal: either an Indian or Chinese takeaway.

Once he can eat again James said his parents would be "so poor".

"I'm going to make them spend so much money on food for me," he joked.