WARNING: This story is heart-wrenching and potentially distressing
The parents of seven-year-old British boy, Mason Timmins, have released the heartbreaking photos of their son’s final breaths in an attempt to warn others about meningitis.
Claire and Mark Timmins’ son died of the disease just two weeks before Christmas in 2013 and needed a life support machine towards the end of his life.
“He was always smiling and always had something to say,” Claire told British media after making the photo public.
“One Monday morning, I heard him coughing and then he started to be sick. I thought it was just a sickness bug as to be honest I had seen him a lot worse and it was nothing out of the ordinary,” she recalled.
“But by 3.30pm he started to get a temperature. I gave him some Calpol but it didn’t go down.”
She called her husband and they took him to the doctor where he “got floppy”.
“The doctor said straight away he thought it was meningitis and gave him some injections.”
“Mason then lost consciousness and he never regained it. He felt ill at 6.30am and by midnight he was brain dead.”
Sadly, his life support was switched off the next day.
“Hopefully [the photo] will shock people into finding out more about meningitis. We want people to know just how quickly it can happen,” she told the Daily Mirror.
“Originally, it was something we were keeping private. Up until now only family have seen it, and the nurses at the hospital who took the pictures for us.”
“But there was no hesitation – we were both thinking the same thing without saying it to one another. We also wanted people to realise not everybody develops a rash. Mason didn’t have one when he died.”
“The last thing he said was when he asked if he could watch Casper, the Friendly Ghost on television. He got to the end of it and fell asleep. He’d been awake since 6am vomiting, but it seemed like he was getting better so I thought I should let him sleep. It all went down hill from there.”
Meningitis warning signs, NSW Health:
- Meningococcal disease is rare but people infected with it can become extremely unwell within hours of the first symptoms appearing and the disease can be fatal.
-A rash does not always appear or it may occur late in the disease. The typical meningococcal rash doesn’t disappear with gentle pressure on the skin.
-It is also important to note that not all of the symptoms of meningococcal disease may be present at once.
-Symptoms of meningococcal disease are non-specific but may include sudden onset of fever, cold hands and feet, limb/joint pain, nausea and vomiting, headache, neck stiffness, dislike of bright lights and a pin-prick rash changing to large red-purple blotches. Babies and very young children may also be irritable, have difficulty waking, have rapid or laboured breathing, have diarrhoea, have a high-pitched cry or refuse to eat.
-Symptoms early in the illness are common to many mild viral illnesses, so it can be difficult for doctors to diagnose the disease in the early stages.
-Sometimes the classic symptoms may follow less specific symptoms including leg pain, cold hands and abnormal skin colour.
-Meningococcal disease can sometimes follow on from other respiratory infections.
-People who have symptoms of meningococcal disease should see a doctor urgently, especially if there is persistent fever, irritability, drowsiness or lethargy, or a child is not feeding normally.
-24-hours expert health advice in NSW 1800 022 222 FREE
-More information on meningococcal disease or phone your local Public Health Unit on 1300 066 055.
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