Trust your instincts in brain-bug battle

RECOVERY: Harrison and Richard both survived meningitis

A PUB landlord and his nephew were saved by the quick-thinking actions of their family after contracting the killer brain bug meningitis.

Now the pair — who were only hours from death — are urging people to trust their instincts if they suspect the disease.

Seven-year-old Harrison Duddle, from Greenfield, battled the disease six years ago and his uncle Richard (44) fell into a two-week coma in 2010 with the worst form of the condition.

Both have pledged their support to a nationwide awareness-raising campaign yesterday at Richard’s pub, The Rising Sun, in Mossley.

Harrison’s mum Gina, who works as a nurse, recollects the traumatic ordeal which led to an almost-tragic set of events.

She said: “I just thought he had been suffering from the same virus that his twin Ryan had come down with.

“In bed he had a seizure and became all floppy and grey — he didn’t have a rash or anything, which you normally associate with meningitis.”

An ambulance took Harrison to Tameside Hospital and then transferred him to Stepping Hill in Stockport. Doctors were ready to send him home and had not given him any blood tests, but his worried mother insisted he stay for observation.

He suffered a 40-minute seizure, just hours later, and was then treated for meningitis.

Gina added: “I just knew something was wrong. You have got to trust your instincts.”

The brave youngster stayed in hospital for eight days and eventually made a full recovery.

The family were rocked again three years later when Richard became ill at his then home in Greenfield. It all began with a bad headache lasting five days.

He said: “I went to bed and the next thing I remember I was waking up from a coma. If it was not for the quick-thinking actions of my family and a friend, I would be dead.

“You do normally think of meningitis affecting mainly children, but it can happen to anyone, like it did to me.”

Richard and Harrison met with Steve Dayman, Meningitis UK founder director at the pub yesterday.

Richard’s mother Paula also keeps Meningitis UK collection buckets in her Greenfield pub, The Railway Inn.

To find out more about Meningitis UK, call 01179-476 320 or visit www.meningitisuk.org.