The parents of a 4-year-old boy who died from meningitis are honoring him by raising awareness about the deadly disease and collecting funds for future research.
Sammy and John Knowles told the BBC and Yorkshire Live about their only child Jaxon, who died in the hospital on February 17 from meningococcal disease.
Jaxon was the couple’s “miracle baby,” Sammy told Yorkshire Live, as he was their “last chance of having kids” after seven years of trying and five rounds of IVF before his July 2020 birth in Sheffield, England. The couple had three miscarriages and “had almost given up” before welcoming Jaxon, the mother told the BBC.
“We would wanted him for so long, and we never thought we could do enough for him,” Sammy told the publication. “Every birthday was over the top — petting zoos, circus rides — we went to Lapland at Christmas.”
The Knowles family’s lives changed forever when they returned from a weekend trip to Blackpool, England, on February 16. The family noticed that their son began to complain about the area “under his arm” hurting and having a “tummy ache,” according to Sammy and John.
“When we got home around 6 p.m. on Sunday, as I lifted him out of the car he kept asking to sleep in ‘mummy’s bed’ — which he always did when he was ill,” Sammy said to Yorkshire Live concerning Jaxon. “He had a history of chest infections, so this was not surprising. I gave him some Calpol, which usually helps with illnesses and kept his temperature down.”
After staying up with her son until 2 a.m., Sammy awoke three hours later and noticed a rash while checking his temperature, she told the outlet. Though she initially suspected chicken pox, she “immediately saw how bad it was” after turning on a lamp, according to Yorkshire Live.
The rash, she told the BBC, resembled “burst veins,” and her son quickly “threw up and his mouth started swelling up.” The couple then called emergency services, who instructed them to place Jaxon on the floor and count his breaths.
“It felt like an eternity passed before emergency responders arrived, followed by ambulance crews. We had no idea it was meningitis until we got in the ambulance and were told 15 nurses and doctors were waiting in Rotherham Hospital’s ICU,” Jaxon’s mother told Yorkshire Live. “I was in shock, as I had not heard anything about meningitis for years.”
Jaxon’s rash turned purple during his stay in the hospital, and he was bleeding from his eyes. His parents tried to comfort him by singing his “favorite lullabies,” his mother told Yorkshire Live. According to the BBC, doctors were able to restart Jaxon’s heart at one point, but he died on the morning of February 17.
“It still does not feel real,” Sammy told the Yorkshire Live. “He was fine over the weekend, and now he is gone. There were no signs of meningitis.
Jaxon contracted meningococcal disease, which is a bacterial infection that affects the lining of the brain and spinal cord and causes swelling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the Meningitis Now charity, 10% of cases of the life-threatening infection, caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, are fatal.
Now, the Knowles family hopes to raise awareness about the disease by launching the Jaxon Knowles Forever Fund, which will benefit the Meningitis Now charity. So far, they have raised over £13,000 (roughly $17,000) in honor of their late son.
“We know there was no vaccination that Jax could take,” his mother told the BBC. “Perhaps with more funding and more research, things can change in the future.”
“We now have a huge void.” The house is empty, but if we can help even one family right now, that is something,” she added.