Meningitis
21/09/2005
Harvey Phillips contracted meningitis aged nine months old. He lost both his legs above the knee, his right arm just below his elbow and all the digits from his left hand. This week is Meningitis Awareness week and the family are keen to raise awareness of this terrible disease. Harvey had his first birthday last Friday.
Harvey Phillips
In June this year, 9 month old Harvey had chicken pox. On the Thursday mum Lisa noticed that his temperature was high but she realised something was seriously wrong that evening at about 10pm when she went to check on him. His lips were purple, his eyes grey and he was floppy. He was also very hot.
Lisa's sister saw him and told them to call an ambulance immediately. Lisa was struggling to cope at this point and describes herself as "hysterical." In hospital the staff quickly diagnosed meningitis.
Harvey was put into a controlled coma and developed the 'meningitis rash'. Doctors warned the family that he was very very poorly. They recommended Harvey be baptized and this was done with the family around his bedside.
In retrospect Lisa remembers that Harvey had been sensitive to lights but at the time she didn't piece the signs together to realise it was meningitis.
Lisa says the family were living "minute by minute" at this point. He needed a kidney dialysis to clean his blood. This was a high risk operation because the blood wasn't clotting. There was a danger he may bleed to death or puncture a lung.
They spent the weekend "just hanging on" - waiting to see what happened. Forty eight hours after arriving they were told he needed to have his fingers and toes amputated. He came out of the coma because his condition was improving, then it worsened and they said he had to lose his right arm. Doctors tried to save his legs by scraping the muscles away but this didn't work and they too had to be amputated.
Harvey was in intensive care for four weeks and in hospital for eight weeks. He ended up losing his right arm, both his legs and the fingers on his left arm due to septicemia.
Throughout their ordeal, the couple's daughter Kayla was being looked after by her aunties. When Harvey became sick, the family had been in Lisa's hometown near Sheffield for a surprise 50th birthday party for her mum and it was this that saved his life because the specialist team required to treat Harvey were based at Sheffield Children's Hospital. Had Harvey got sick at his home in Lincolnshire they would have had to fly an emergency team down from Sheffield to treat him. If they hadn't got there in time this may have cost him his life.
Harvey's situation now
Harvey has had skin grafts on his wounds to help him heal. He currently has bandages on the wounds but they are about to come off and may be off by the time they come to the studio on Wednesday.
He is trying to walk at the moment, and obviously this isn't possible because he hasn't got legs. He is expected to have false limbs fitted very soon. They were hoping the false limbs would be fitted by his first birthday but this wasn't possible because the wounds hadn't healed. As Harvey grows his limbs will be regularly re-fitted.
Tips to spot meningitis
Under fives are the most at risk from meningitis but anyone can catch it. It strikes 3000 people each year and kills 300. Early signs include a high fever, neck stiffness, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, increased drowsiness and confusion. Patients also have problems with bright lights.
People who develop septicaemia may have cold hands and feet, joint and muscle pain, diarrhoea and a red-purply rash anywhere on the skin that doesn't fade when you do the glass tumbler test. Babies may go off their feeds, have a shrill cry, be floppy or rigid or have a vacant expression.
If you are worried, the advice is to seek medical help urgently. If symptoms persist go back and be assertive.