THE parents of an 18-month-old girl who died from meningitis B just three hours after a rash appeared have called on the government to bring in free vaccinations for youngsters to protect them against the deadly virus.
Rebecca Barton and Matthew Bright were woken up by little Mia at 2.15am on March 9, but the toddler was immediately rushed to Barnsley Hospital after her parents turned on the light and saw her covered in the telltale rash.
“Mia had a spot on her ribcage when we went to bed at 10.15pm so we kept her in our room as we thought it was the start of chicken pox,” Rebecca, 33, told the Chronicle. “By the time she woke up and asked for a drink, it had completely spread all over her body.
“That’s when we started to fear about meningitis. The hospital staff were brilliant when we rushed there and Mia was still reasonably okay and was responsive. The next thing we knew there were doctors performing CPR on her little chest and we lost her at around 5am.”
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