A mother has described her horror after missing two calls from the hospital following her daughter's collapse from meningitis. Khali Goodwin's daughter Keeleigh, 22, was rushed to hospital after attending Club Chemistry in Canterbury, Kent, which is linked to a major meningitis outbreak.
Keeleigh initially thought she had Covid-19, but her condition worsened rapidly. She developed a stiff neck, a hallmark symptom of meningitis, and later suffered a seizure at home. Her housemate called an ambulance, which Khali believes saved her life.
The outbreak has killed two people: a 21-year-old student and 18-year-old Juliette, a sixth-form student at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham. More than a dozen others have been hospitalised, including Keeleigh.
Khali said she told her daughter to rest and take paracetamol, not realising the severity of her illness. Waking to missed calls from the hospital, she learned Keeleigh had a seizure and was in a serious condition. Keeleigh remains in isolation but is improving, with her temperature and blood pressure returning to normal.
Keeleigh is too old to have received the meningitis B vaccine, which was introduced for babies in 2015 and is not routinely offered to those in their teens or twenties. Khali urged other parents to trust their instincts and seek medical advice if they suspect meningitis.
