A mother from Nottingham has issued a powerful public health warning after her son's seemingly ordinary chest infection spiralled into a life-threatening illness that gave him just one hour to live.
From a Persistent Cough to a Fight for Life
In March 2024, Martine Purdy, a 51-year-old special effects makeup artist, grew concerned about her 11-year-old son, Franki. He had been battling a chest infection for five weeks and began complaining of leg pain, fatigue, and developed a mild fever. Believing it to be a continuation of his illness, Martine wasn't immediately alarmed.
The next morning, her world shattered. She found Franki sitting on his bed, his fingers bent backwards, eyes half-closed, and making an awful murmuring sound. "I couldn't rouse him; it was like he was on a different planet," Martine recalled. Unbeknownst to her, he had already suffered two seizures, a collapsed lung, and a stroke.
A Race Against Time in Hospital
Paramedics rushed Franki to hospital, where his confusion led him to believe he was being kidnapped. Doctors delivered the devastating news: Franki had only an hour to live upon arrival. He was immediately placed into an induced coma.
Tests revealed he was suffering from a rare and lethal combination: meningoencephalitis – a severe inflammation of the brain and its protective layers – and sepsis. Medical professionals believe the initial chest infection spread to his brain, triggering the catastrophic condition.
"I was prepared to say goodbye," Martine admitted, bracing herself for the worst. Franki spent a month in hospital, where he had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat, and swallow from scratch.
The Long Road to Recovery
Now 13 years old and 19 months on from the ordeal, Franki's recovery is ongoing. He continues to face significant challenges, including severe memory problems where he forgets conversations moments after they happen. He requires help with basic tasks like bathing and dressing, uses a wheelchair periodically, and suffers from patchy hair loss and severe headaches.
He is only just beginning to transition back to school, where he struggles to retain new information and has forgotten many of his classmates' names. Franki has no memory of the illness itself but experienced terrifying confabulation nightmares while hospitalised, including one where he believed his face was covered in staples.
Inspired by his journey, Martine wrote a book, The Forest of Remembering, imagining his consciousness in an enchanted woodland during the coma. She published it to raise awareness of brain injuries and offer comfort to other families.
Martine's stark warning highlights how a common infection can have rare, devastating consequences, urging parents to trust their instincts and seek urgent medical help if a child's condition changes dramatically.
