‘Mother’s instinct’ praised for saving Faye’s life
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.
The treatment of the critically ill child — who has made a miraculous recovery — is captured in TV3’s Temple Street series as her parents want to highlight the many symptoms of the killer disease.
Her mother Sally said she rushed her child to hospital at 1.30am after a frantic 45-minute drive from their home in Courtmacsherry in West Cork.
She said: “It was a mother’s instinct. During the night she was restless and was vomiting and I looked over at her and she had a little mark on her side. We raced up to the Cork University Hospital. Within an hour above there she was covered in purple marks. They said an hour more and it could have been fatal.”
Meningitis, which is a serious swelling of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, can prove to be fatal, especially in small children, if the treatment is too late.
Dr Dermot Doherty at Temple Street Hospital said the critically ill child was saved by the quick-thinking actions of her parents.
Her mother Sally — who has four other children, twins Lynne and Aron, 15, Ava, 14, and Luke, 10 — said she had brought her daughter to her local doctor twice that day but he thought it was viral.
She said: “He was telling me to dose her with Nurofen to bring down her temperature.
“I have five children and had been dealing with fevers with the other four. I knew she was way sicker.
“The thing was she had cold hands and feet and the rest of her was roasting, which I know now is a sign.”
The TV series shows Faye bravely fighting the disease in intensive care in Temple St. After two weeks in ICU on full ventilation, she was transferred to a ward.
Her mother said she was only aware of a few of the classic symptoms of the condition. “The glass and the rash were the only things we knew about it. The nurse gave us a leaflet on the symptoms and every household should have one,” she said.
Faye’s father Joe said: “Since then we’ve found out so many different things about meningitis. The bright lights, cold feet, cold hands, vomiting, stiffness in the neck. There are so many things that other parents around the country should know.”
They are urging other parents to familiarise themselves with the signs as it could mean the difference between life and death.
Sally said Faye’s wounds from the meningitis have been healing well since she returned home but she still has a long road to full recovery.
She said: “She is flying it but she has only 5% use of her right hand. She had to get skin grafts in Cork in December. She had five anaesthetics in one week.”
The Knowles are so grateful for the lifesaving treatment given to their daughter they have set up a trust in her name to raise funds for CUH and Temple Street Hospital.
The second episode of Temple Street Children’s Hospital airs tonight at 8.30pm on TV3
* Meningitis Research Foundation Ireland free phone helpline on 1800 41 33 44.
To donate to the trust go to Fayegivesback.com
Early symptoms can be mistaken for those of flu, including: fever, headache, stiff neck, dislike of bright light, drowsiness, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, confusion and in some cases, a rash.
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