Matt Dawson speaks out on deadly university condition that is mistaken for a hangover

In the time it takes Jonnie Peacock to run a 100m race or Matt Dawson to line up a drop goal, you could learn enough information to save a life.

That’s the message of GSK’s new Tackle Meningitis Campaign fronted by Paralympian Peacock and Rugby World Cup winner Dawson, who both have first-hand experience of the ravages of the disease.

Dawson’s son Sami was hospitalised and on life support with bacterial meningitis aged two and Peacock had meningitis as a child aged five resulting in his leg being amputated below the knee.

“As humans, we are fragile and we don’t like to accept these uncomfortable things,” said Peacock.

“But if every single person in the country goes on this website, it will without doubt save a life, potentially more than one life.”

YouGov polling shows that a full 75% of parents know that a rash is a symptom of meningitis, but awareness of other symptoms is much lower. For instance, only 30% of those surveyed knew that cold hands and feet are a symptom.

“This is an incredibly rare infection but to me, it seems that people still aren’t aware of the symptoms,” said Peacock. “I don’t think there’s ever a bad time to raise awareness.”

Meningitis is most common among children but Dawson and Peacock underline that it is increasingly occurring among groups of teenagers and young adults.

“My son was two, Jonnie was five, but a huge part of the problem now lies with teenagers at university and not understanding the symptoms,” says Dawson.

“It has been misconstrued as having a hangover - how ridiculous is that? Knowledge is power and it doesn’t have to be a lot of knowledge. We’re not asking people to become medical students.”

Peacock adds: “It is low transfer, but it is transferable. Uni students spend a lot of time sharing utensils, these kinds of things, there are simple small steps you can do like washing your hands that make a big difference.”

The pair speak a passion and urgency imbued by their personal experiences of meningitis.

Peacock remembers being wrapped up in his favourite Power Rangers duvet in the back of a car speeding through red lights to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

His mother, Linda, watched him slip into an induced coma as the disease attacked his brain and the tissues in his leg. She was advised to say goodbye to Jonnie as there was a strong chance he would die.

“It was way harder on my family than me,” said Peacock. “It’s incredibly hard on the parent. At the age I was, you’re not really aware of the bigger picture and you just get on with it.

“My mum lives with the mental baggage that comes with that.”

Dawson knows exactly how that feels. He went through ‘two weeks of hell’ with wife Carolin as Sami battled meningitis W135 at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

“I look at Sami now, running around and loving his football and his humour and his education, everything’s going swimmingly well for him, but we all know how close we were to him not being here,” said Dawson.

“I’m not going to sit here and say I knew all of the symptoms and because of that we saved his life. There was an element of luck to the fact that we knew about the rash and that there was something a little bit odd about the way he was ill compared to other times.

“We went on our instincts, spoke to the GP and then we were at hospital with blue lights everywhere and it was all kicking off.

“We were desperately fortunate as a family, we got the timing right, but I would implore people to lower the risks that they will go through all of that and to take all available precautions.”

Tackle Meningitis is a campaign by GSK supported by Matt Dawson and Jonnie Peacock. For more information visit TackleMeningitis.org. Tackle Meningitis is supported by Life for a Cure, Meningitis Now, The Meningitis Research Foundation, UKHSA and NHS England, who have shared their insights and expertise from patient and public health perspectives.