‘Mother’s instinct’ praised for saving Faye’s life

A mother’s instinct has been credited with saving her little girl’s life after she rushed her to hospital in the middle of the night when she spotted an unusual strawberry-coloured mark on her side.

Within an hour of Sally and Joe Knowles arriving at Cork University Hospital with their 20-month-old daughter Faye the strawberry mark had spread all over her body — leaving the telltale rash of meningitis.

Doctors, who had to resuscitate the toddler shortly after her arrival, told her parents her condition could have been fatal if Faye had remained untreated for another hour with the deadly condition which is notoriously difficult to diagnose and can kill in hours.