Taylor Westley-Smith
Aged nine months
On the 15th March 2009 our beautiful little boy was taken from us. He died from meningococcal septicaemia aged only nine-and-a-half-months-old.
On the Saturday afternoon I was watching the football with him on my lap, teaching him all the Liverpool songs as he would have grown up supporting Liverpool as well. After the game we put him down for a nap and when he awoke for his bottle he wasn't his normal self and didn't take his bottle. This was very rare as he was a very hungry baby.
We called NHS direct who advised we took him to the doctors, which we did and was told he probably had some sort of gastro bug and a high temperature. He had a very faint rash on his face but the doctor wasn't too concerned as it could have been a number of things, like teething or a heat rash.
We brought him home and kept checking on him every 15 minutes and ensured he had plenty of water and Calpol. We were woken at 2am on Sunday morning when his monitor went off. We went to see him and noticed he had a few red spots over his face and neck.
Worried that this could be chicken pox, as he had been in contact with a child on the Friday who had also been in contact with chicken pox, we called NHS direct again and were told to continue what we were doing. We were told a doctor would call us back within four hours.
The doctor called back at approx 5am and we explained our concerns about chicken pox only to be told that the spots don't come out until after about a week of being in contact with chicken pox. We rushed into Taylor's room but it was too late. He had already gone.
I still get flashbacks of carrying him down the stairs and trying to revive him and Jen is finding it really hard to come to terms with everything. We both have nothing but the highest praise for the paramedics, ambulance crew, staff at Ipswich Hospital and the police. They did the best they could.
Mark Smith (Taylor's dad)
MeningitisUK · Registered Charity No.1076774