07 October 2023 , 18:13
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A student who dismissed feeling unwell as fresher’s flu believes he would have died had his friends not got him to hospital.
Levi Lawrence, 21, felt under the weather for a couple of weeks after starting the second year of his Psychology course at Swansea University but thought little of it. Things escalated when he woke up feeling confused and unable to speak or walk. When he started vomiting his concerned friends took him to hospital.
Doctors made several checks and discovered he had meningitis and was extremely unwell, eventually spending ten days in hospital before he was allowed to leave. Now Levi is urging new and current students to ensure they're up to date with childhood vaccinations.
He told BristolLive “I’d been feeling under the weather for a couple of weeks, which I put down to Fresher’s flu but one morning I woke up feeling really ill, I was vomiting and confused, and quickly got to the point that I couldn’t really speak and could barely walk.
"My housemate got me to the hospital quickly, and I believe her quick actions saved my life. I ended up spending ten days in hospital with meningitis and sepsis, and was extremely ill.
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“It was a really scary time, I had problems with my legs which meant that I was on crutches for weeks afterwards and I still get electric shock-type pains in my legs now.”
Levi’s story was a "stark reminder" of the impact of infectious diseases such as meningitis and how they could make people seriously ill and cause huge disruption to people’s lives, Public Health Wales (PHW) said. Dr Chris Johnson, the organisation’s head of vaccine preventable disease programme, said Levi’s experience showed how vital it is students and young people are up to date with all their routine vaccinations before leaving for university or as soon as possible once there.
He said: “Routine childhood vaccinations are safe and effective, and protect against the serious consequences of infectious diseases that so often circulate among young people starting university. The introduction of the meningitis C vaccines, which includes the MenACWY vaccine given to teenagers, has been really successful, as it has reduced the number of cases caused by Meningitis C by 90%.
“It’s really important young people make sure they get these vaccines, which protect them from serious illnesses and allow them to get on with enjoying this new phase of their life. Many young people are unaware of what vaccines they have had as children so it’s important that any missed doses are brought up to date to ensure optimum protection.
“They can check whether they are up to date with their vaccinations, and catch up with any doses that they are missing, by getting in touch with their GP or local health board child services.”