Family raise funds to fight meningitis after baby son's death (From Western Telegraph)

Family raise funds to fight meningitis after baby son's death

7:20am Saturday 11th February 2012 in News

Parents must be aware of the speed that meningitis can kill, a young mother from Neyland has warned after the tragic loss of her 10-month-old son at Christmas.

Kadyn Dean Busby died suddenly on Christmas morning and parents Nicola and Tony want to warn others of how deadly the illness can be.

Kadyn had meningococcal septicaemia, a different type of meningitis to that which killed student Hannah Gwilliam from Burton last month, but there is no vaccine for either.

"We want to raise awareness rather than tell a sad story about Kadyn," said Nicola who is highlighting Meningitis UK's Trust Your Instincts campaign.

"Doctors are terrified of misdiagnosing meningitis but at the same time parents tend to listen to doctors and if they have a little doubt they don't do anything abut it," said Nicola, who emphasised that there was no issue with misdiagnosis in Kadyn's case.

"The thing that worries me is how many people asked if Kadyn was ill but it's not like that, the meningitis bug is so fast, it's hard to diagnose. We thought he had a cold or flu because he was being sick - the obvious signs don't often come out until it's too late.

"We want to highlight how fast it happens. People just don't think it's going to happen to them. People have said 'the only thing I know about meningitis is to be scared of it'," she added.

Kadyn died just hours after first showing signs of cold-like symptoms and Nicola has praised the doctors who tried to save him.

"He had two little spots and we did the tumbler test and the spots went, with babies it's a lot harder to tell because they can't tell you that they're hurting. Bacterial meningitis is a lot more threatening because it happens so fast," added Nicola.

Despite the tragic circumstances the couple opened Kadyn's Christmas presents and left them for other patients on the children's ward.

Nicola, Tony and other members of the family are working hard to help Meningitis UK raise funds to research a vaccine for group B - the charity needs a massive £7million - which started with a balloon launch on Sunday (February 5th) to mark what would have been Kadyn's first birthday.

The couple were overwhelmed by the support and excellent turn out which saw more than 200 balloons released - family in America also released balloons at the same time - raising just under £900.

There will also be a music filled event at Neyland Athletic Club on February 18th, 7.30pm, with the Pennysows and hundreds of top raffle prizes. Tickets are £7.50 on the door. To find out more call Sharon on 07825076401.

Nicola and her brother, step daughter and sister-in-law will brave a charity sky dive in August, raising a minimum of £400 each for Meningitis UK.

The charity has been a great support to Nicola and Tony, along with their close friends and family and by raising as much as possible via the Kadyn Forever Fund is one way helping to try and protect others from the disease.

To donate to Kadyn's Forever Fund go to: meningitisuk.tributefunds.com/fund/ Kadyn+Dean+Busby.

Trust your instincts, charity urges

National charity Meningitis UK's Trust Your Instincts campaign encourages people to have the confidence in their instincts if they suspect meningitis and keep pushing for further examinations.

The disease strikes with incredible speed and can be very difficult to detect as its symptoms are so similar to the common cold and flu.

There are also times when people show no, or very few, symptoms.

"For all these reasons, we believe that prevention is the only way to truly eradicate the disease," a spokesman for the charity said.

"Although fantastic progress has been made over the last 20 years, there is still no vaccine available to protect against all forms of meningitis and associated diseases, including the most common form in the UK, meningococcal group B, and other forms such as Streptococcal Group B. "It is also vital to monitor existing vaccines and to keep improving them. Our researchers are working hard across the UK on various studies to achieve overall aim of eradicating all forms of the disease,".

Meningitis UK has a free fridge magnet for parents displaying the symptoms to look out for and more information about Trust Your Instincts and the research fund is available at www.meningitisuk.org or call 0117 303 3341.

More information can be obtained from the Meningitis Research Foundation, which has a 24-hour freephone helpline on 0808 800 3344, or from the Meningitis Trust’s 24-hour freephone helpline on 0800 028 1828.