Heartbreaking picture of two-year-old Faye Burdett who died from meningitis as parents campaign for vaccinations

Tragic: little Faye Burdett died on Valentine's Day
Hannah Al-Othman18 February 2016

The heartbroken parents of a two-year-old girl who died after an 11-day battle with meningitis have pleaded for wider vaccinations against the disease.

Toddler Faye Burdett died on Valentine's Day at Evelina Children's Hospital in London after she was taken ill with meningitis B.

She had battled the illness for almost two weeks - even having a leg and an arm amputated - but eventually succumbed to the disease.

Today her parents Jenny and Neil, from Kent, appealed for immunisations against all forms of meningitis to be rolled out to all children up to the age of 11 on the NHS.

From September last year, newborns have been vaccinated free of charge on the NHS against meningitis B.

But parents say private vaccinations against the disease for children born before September can cost between £300 and £450.

Shocking: Faye's parents agreed for her picture to be shared to raise awareness of the need for vaccinations

In an emotional message on Facebook her parents, from Maidstone, wrote: "Faye was taken to A&E with a rash on her forehead, she was then transferred by south bank retrieval service to Evelina Children's Hospital where her heart stopped in the ambulance.

"They revived her and spent hours working on stabilising her, we were given a 1 per cent survival rate but she proved them wrong and carried on fighting, after a few days she seemed to have turned a corner but the the sepsis started to effect her more and the decision of limb removal was made, but the extent of removal was massive, full leg amputation and one arm and plastic surgery.

"But she was getting tired, her little body consumed by meningitis and sepsis (blood poisoning) we had to make the decision, a massive operation and she may die or we let her go peacefully on her own accord, we decided the latter and then watched our little girl slip away and at 9pm February 14th she finally fell asleep forever.

"All this in only 11 days."

A post by family friend Charlene Reed urging people to sign a petition calling for a change in legislation has already been shared 85,000 times.

This is Faye and This is Meningitis.As youre aware, ive had a pretty shit weekend with news, some of that news being...

Posted by Charlene Reed on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Ms Reed wrote: "Faye fought for a whopping two weeks with meningitis and at times, we really thought she would come through so to receive the news on monday morning was not only heartbreaking but shocking.

"Faye, and her so very brave mum has given permission to share this photo to raise awareness. No it's not nice but it's reality, and it's what this disease did to Faye which made her sadly lose her life on Sunday.

"We are trying to get parliament to reconsider charging us hundreds of pounds each to protect our children from this. In Faye's legacy we will fight to raise awareness. "

The petition on the parliament website reads: "all children are at risk from this terrible infection, yet the Government plan to only vaccinate 2 to 5 month olds. There needs to be a rollout programme to vaccinate all children, at least up to age 11".

It has already garnered more than 250,000 signatures.

Ms Reed has also set up a JustGiving page in memory of Faye, which has already raised more than £3000 for the hospital where the youngster was treated.

A post by nurse Aimee Beesley urging people to back the campaign has also been shared thousands of times.

Signs and symptoms of meningitis

  • The first symptoms are usually fever, vomiting, headache and feeling unwell.
  • Limb pain, pale skin, and cold hands and feet often appear earlier than the rash, neck stiffness, dislike of bright lights and confusion.
  • Septicaemia can occur with or without meningitis. Not everyone gets all the symptoms and they can appear in any order. 
  • Signs of meningitis in babies include a tense or bulging soft spot on their head, refusing to feed, being irritable when picked up, with a high pitched or moaning cry, and having a stiff body with jerky movements, or else feeling floppy and lifeless. Fever is often absent in babies under three months of age.
  • If you are seriously worried about someone who is ill, do not wait for a rash to appear, and seek medical help.
  • However, if a rash is already visible, press a clear glass tumbler firmly against the rash. If you can see the marks clearly through the glass seek urgent medical help immediately. 

Information provided by www.meningitis.org

She wrote: "Every time I look at this picture it reduces me to tears, but I feel this needs to be shared to spread awareness and fight for what is right.

"We've already hit our aim of 10,000 signatures in literally 2 days. I'm so proud of the ladies working alongside myself in trying to get the meningitis B jab free for our children.

"You may have seen me speaking about a young girl now very close to my heart, Faye. Her so very brave mum has given permission to share this picture to help raise awareness. No, it's not nice, but it is reality.

"And it is what this disease did to Faye which made her sadly loose her life on Sunday 14th February 2016. We are trying to get parliament to reconsider charging us hundreds of pounds each to protect our children from this awful disease.

"In order to get this issue to parliament for debate we need to reach 100,000 signatures. In Faye's legacy, we will fight to raise awareness.

"To the most beautiful girl and the most bravest mummy. I hope we make her proud rest in beautiful peace little angel xxx"

As the petition has surpassed 100,000 signatures, MPs will already have to consider debating the matter in parliament.

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