Sharon, from Blythe Bridge, Stoke-on-Trent, shares their story here.
"Mason had been a normal lively 11-month-old little boy on the morning of the day he became ill. He’d had a bit of a cold over Christmas, alongside what the doctor said was a viral rash. At nap time he completely refused to feed and didn’t want his dummy. A little while went by and I thought he was asleep, but then he started to grunt. I sat him up and he vomited everywhere.
"I took Mason upstairs to change him and he vomited again, this time also going limp. I rang for an ambulance. The paramedics were in the house for ages saying everything was normal, but then they decided to take him to hospital to be checked over.
In a critical condition
"We were left in a cubicle in A&E for over four hours. Finally, we were sent to the children’s assessment unit where they were fantastic – but within 10 minutes of being there Mason’s lips turned blue and he went rigid.
"We were quickly rushed to Resus, where they couldn’t get any lines into him and they just kept saying he was ‘flat’.
"Three hours later we were taken to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where we were told the devastating news that they would have to ventilate and sedate Mason. They also said they couldn’t do a lumbar puncture because he was far too weak, so we would have to wait for the blood sample to come back.
"The next day we were given the diagnosis of pneumococcal meningitis and septicaemia. My whole world fell apart.
"Mason’s heart stopped working, as did his kidneys and liver.
"The next night doctors said he was in a critical condition and didn’t think he was going to make it through the night - but my gorgeous strong boy fought back! He was on dialysis for three weeks and spent a month in intensive care, before being transferred to the high dependency unit for two weeks.
Very lucky
"Mason has lost the tips of his fingers, and has scars on his hands and knees. He’s also sustained damage to the growth plates in his legs. He’s already had two operations on his legs and will need a lot more over the next few years.
"We feel very lucky to still have our little boy."
