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Matt Dawson Reveals Son Had Meningitis

Matt Dawson Reveals Son Had Meningitis

Former England rugby union star Matt Dawson has revealed his family suffered "two weeks of hell" after his youngest son Sami was struck by meningitis.

Dawson tweeted a series of pictures charting the toddler's battle with the disease at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

They show him lying in bed with wires and tubes attached to his mouth and his neck and chest and covered in red marks.

He is then seen gradually improving and being hugged by his older brother Alex.

Dawson, 43, said he had been "umming and ahhing" about posting the images but he and his wife Carolin decided it was important to raise awareness of the disease.

As well as the pictures, he also shared a link to a petition on the Government’s website calling for all children to be vaccinated against Meningitis B, not just young babies.

Currently, the NHS provides a vaccination in three doses for babies at two months, four months and 12 months.

Parents who wish to vaccinate older children must pay hundreds of pounds to do so privately.

By Thursday morning the meningitis petition had gathered more than 400,000 signatures, meaning it will be considered for debate in the House of Commons.

It is also supported by the parents of two-year-old Faye Burdett, who died from meningitis on 14 February - 11 days after contracting the infection.

Her family have revealed she was due to have an operation to amputate her arm and leg, but they decided against it.

"She was getting tired, her little body consumed by meningitis and sepsis (blood poisoning)," her mother Jenny Burdett said.

"We had to make the decision, a massive operation and she may die, or we let her go peacefully on her own accord.

"We decided the latter and then watched our little girl slip away."