A schoolgirl is “lucky to be alive” after doctors dismissed her symptoms as the common cold before she was diagnosed with meningitis.
Harri, then aged 12, suffered from a runny nose and headache for a week before her temperature soared, prompting mum Toni Tuson to take her to A&E.
She was sent home but later her condition worsened and was rushed back to hospital where she spent six days in an induced coma.
Toni, 38, said: “Harri is very lucky to be alive.
“My gut feeling was telling me this isn’t just a cold or virus. It was horrendous as I had been in Urgent Care and A&E all day with her but we were sent home.
“In hindsight and the benefit of all the research I have since done, I shouldn’t have left but we were there for eight hours and I was made to feel like a neurotic parent and that nothing was wrong, so I had to trust the doctor’s word and go home.”
Once home however things took a turn for the worse.
She added: “She was completely out of it and didn’t even know where she was.
“She was staring right through me and looked brain damaged. One pupil was bigger than the other and I later found out that this was a seizure.
“I was terrified.”
The youngster was transferred to Kings College in London for an MRI scan when she was diagnosed with meningitis.
Doctors also discovered Harri had encephalitis - an inflammation of the brain along with a collection of fluid.
Terri said: “when we arrived at Kings we were told there was a high possibility she would need surgery to have pressure released from her brain.
“They said they would do everything possible to protect her brain but prepared us for the worst, saying some people don’t even wake up.
“Harri started off with a cold but the sinus infection migrated towards her brain and festered in her sinuses.
“I was happy that she was starting to wake up but it was the worst day.
“I was terrified as she was trying to scream but no noise was coming out. She wasn’t responding - I thought she was brain dead.
“She had no emotions and was unable to form a sentence.
“Thankfully, every day something more would move like her lips and eyes which gave us a little bit of hope.
“It took about three days for Harri to switch back on.”
The schoolgirl spent three weeks in Kings College hospital after her diagnosis last June and then nurses came daily to infuse her with antibiotics for six weeks.
Harri used a wheelchair for eight weeks and had to learn how to walk again and rebuild her strength.
A spokesperson from the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust said: “We cannot comment on this case in the media due to patient confidentiality, but we carried out a detailed investigation last year after Mrs Tuson complained about her daughter’s care, and we sent her a full response in October 2021, addressing all of her concerns.”
