MENINGITIS STRIKES WITH LIGHTNING SPEED AND THREATENS TO TEAR A LOVING FAMILY APART

We are so lucky he’s here but when you see your boy with no legs it’s very hard! BOTH his legs have been amputated and his fingertips have fallen off. But little fighter Robbie Jones has battled back from the brink of death after suffering from meningitis.

The 23-month-old's parents Jill Graham and Wayne Jones woke to find him covered in black and blue bruise-like marks, which they thought was an allergy, however doctors at the University Hospital of North Durham confirmed he had group B meningococcal septicaemia, for which there is no vaccination.

The youngster was transferred to Newcastle General Hospital's paediatric intensive care unit where he was prescribed powerful medication and pain killers, and Jill and Wayne were told Robbie's chances of survival were slim.

Wayne, 35, said: "The doctor said it was one of the worst cases he had ever seen." "It looked like he had been beaten up, he was bruised all over. It was actually his blood clotting. He was swollen all over, you couldn’t even see his eyes. It was so frightening as it didn’t actually look like him."

The couple moved into a hostel attached to the hospital so they could continue their vigil, and after five days Robbie came off the ventilator but his condition took a turn for the worse as his fingertips turned black and his feet were freezing.

He was moved to the city’s RVI, where surgeons amputated both legs and fingertips on his left hand as septicaemia had spread.
Jill said: "The doctors have been amazing, they have been honest with us throughout. It took three days for me to understand what was going on. We can't believe this has happened."
"As parents you try and do your best for your children from the time you are pregnant by not drinking and eating well, so they can get the best in life and all of a sudden not even two years later you get a kick in the teeth. I keep thinking what did we do wrong?"
The 28-year-old added: "It didn't hit home until we were told the doctors would have to amputate, otherwise Robbie would die. We were both hysterical."

Wayne, who works for Thompson’s building merchant, said: "When we were told we were allowed to see him, Jill walked into the room and I just put my head in the door, I couldn't go in. We are so lucky he's still here but when you see your little boy with no legs it's very hard."
"When you are a dad and you want a little boy, you want him to do everything you did. I played football for 15 years and it tears at my heart to even think about it."  "We will get on with it for the bairn's sake but I will never get over this. He has had so much taken away from him and every step is going to be a hurdle."

"It has only been a couple of months that he has been running around and now that has been taken away from us. He is going to have to learn all over again." "Even when I walk down the corridor and I see a little boy walking along it makes me cry. We had heard about meningitis but had never seen the affects it can have. It has been our worst nightmare."

The couple, who also have four-year-old Abbie, are now looking forward to taking Robbie back home to Bowburn, County Durham, and hope it will be possible at the end of the week, but Robbie will have to keep returning to hospital for skin grafts and in four months he will be measured for prosthetic limbs at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.

Wayne said: "Robbie loved shoes and if there were any by the door at home he would put them on. Now he won't be able to do that until he has prosthetic limbs."

"He knows there is something different as he keeps looking at his hands. He has also started pointing at the floor as he wants to go down. He also rubs and strokes his right leg but I don't think he has properly realised yet."

"It breaks our hearts to look at pictures from before. It's like we have lost something, we are grieving. In the morning I wake up and wonder whether it's a bad dream."

Jill said the support from hospital staff, family and friends has been overwhelming. She said: "We can't thank everyone enough for all their support, the doctors, families, friends. We couldn't have done it without them."  "So many people have come forward saying they would like to do an event to raise money."  "It has made our family so much stronger and we have met a lot of people. We have also realised there are a lot of people in worse situations."

Friends and family have organised charity events to raise money for Robbie and the Meningitis Trust.