A mother from Coventry has spoken out after her young son was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis, a disease more commonly associated with Victorian-era slums, following months of dismissed concerns. Megan West first noticed her son Elliot, now aged three, walking oddly in December 2024, with his feet splayed and arms flaring.
Despite multiple GP visits, doctors initially attributed his symptoms to viral infections or suggested he was seeking attention due to jealousy of his baby sister. It was not until June 2025, after an X-ray at A&E, that Elliot was diagnosed with spinal TB—a bacterial infection affecting the spine.
Megan said: 'He would say, “my legs don’t work”. We went to A&E and did the X-ray, and that’s how we found he had tuberculosis. The X-ray showed calcified lymph nodes in his lungs.' Elliot required surgery and a course of antibiotics to control the infection, and may need further surgery if the TB mass does not shrink.
Megan acknowledged the rarity of the condition, saying: 'It is a disease from very long ago, so when it came up, I thought maybe it would be a simple infection. Then they turned around and said his spine will collapse.' She does not blame her GP but wishes her concerns had been taken more seriously.
Elliot is now recovering at home, restricted to walking short distances. Megan urged other parents: 'Listen to your child and push when you don’t feel things are right because no one knows their child better than yourself.'
