Bereaved family urges students to get meningitis jab

Joe Gray died in April 2018 from meningitis

A family from Guernsey is urging young people to make sure they have been vaccinated for meningitis.

The States is also advising students to make sure they are fully vaccinated before they go away to university.

Parents Samantha and Joe Gray lost their son Joe to meningitis in 2018 and want to raise awareness about its dangers.

Mr Gray said students suffering the symptoms should be alert to meningitis and get help as soon as possible.

'Severe headache'

He said the family wanted to appeal to students in halls of residence in particular.

"The time factor involved is so critical," said Mr Gray.

"It's for them to recognise themselves, if they're on their own, when they have a severe, severe headache that makes them feel sick - get help straight away."

Alex Hawkins, associate director of public health in Guernsey, said students should get all the vaccines they are entitled to before leaving the island.

"Obviously, with students going to university, they're going to be mixing with a much larger number of individuals than they would have done living in the Bailiwick," she said.

"They'll also be mixing with students from other countries which may not have had the same vaccination programme we do in Great Britain."

Mrs Gray said her son Joe had flu-like symptoms in the days leading up to his death

Mrs Gray said Joe, who was 16 when he died, had a "flu-type cold" in the days leading up to his death.

She said her son had a severe headache and was vomiting.

When he visited hospital, he was seen by doctors who gave him antibiotics for a chest infection and a urine infection, Mrs Gray added.

"Not at any time did it present to me as what I'd been taught all those years and we've got five children so I'm quite used to looking for the signs and symptoms of meningitis," she said.

Joe's health deteriorated rapidly and he was eventually admitted to hospital where doctors placed him into an induced coma.

He passed away on Thursday 12 April 2018 while being treated in the Intensive Care Unit at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.