Galway Now magazine September/October 2011
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While most of us are aware of the dangers surrounding meningitis, it is not something we expect to encounter directly. However, meningitis is the number-one killer of children under the age of five in Ireland and the infectious disease affects around 300 Irish people every year.
The symptoms most commonly associated with the disease include the appearance of a rash on the body, light sensitivity and a stiff or aching neck, yet in some cases these symptoms do not appear. In fact the symptoms of meningitis at an early stage are extremely difficult to discern, and are often mistaken for symptoms of flu. These include; fever, headache, vomiting and muscle pain. In babies early indications can entail; muscle spasms or floppiness, bulging of the fontanelle, lack of responsiveness, lack of appetite, and a high pitched cry.
The bacteria that causes the disease can live naturally in the throat or nasal cavity and is not always contracted by the carrier but may be passed on through prolonged exposure to others or through sneezing, coughing or kissing. The incubation period is between two and 10 days and urgent treatment with antibiotics is essential - the sooner diagnosis and treatment are received, the greater the chance of full recovery.
While meningitis may be a fear, especially for parents, event the medical profession are horrified by the nature of the disease which can strike within minutes and kill within hours. Those most at risk of contracting the disease are babies and elderly people as well as those between the ages of 18 and 24. The current schedule of childhood vaccines include two which help prevent certain strains of the disease. However, there are a number of other strains that as of now do not have vaccines. With the number of cases of meningitis rising annually and new strains emerging, an awareness of the disease and its symptoms is vital.
Galway woman Siobhán Carroll is currently in the process of starting up a meningitis awareness programme called ACT4Meningitis. Having lost her daughter Aoibhe to the silent killer in April 2008, Siobhán has been working tirelessly to raise funds for meningitis focus groups and charities in an effort to help other families who have encountered the sinister disease.
She recently decided to turn her focus to spreading much needed information about the disease through her own charity ACT4Meningitis, which will launch in October this year and focus solely on raising awareness of the disease. For Siobhán and her young family, the disease not only stole beautiful Aoibhe’s life but ravaged that of the rest of the family in the process.
On April 2 2008, Aoibhe Carroll woke up and went off to the naíonra like any other day but later on that evening began feeling unwell. She woke with vomiting and diarrhoea in the middle of the night but dad Noel eventually settled her and got her back to sleep. Shortly after, she woke again and was seriously ill. Noel called the doctor who suggested that it was most likely to be a bad tummy bug and to keep her as comfortable as possible. What Noel, or the doctor could not have known was that Aoibhe was displaying symptoms of Pneumococcal Meningitis which does not include any obvious visible symptom. “By around 4am he noticed her lips had turned blue and she felt limp and listless” recounts Siobhán.
“I was heavily pregnant at the time with my third child, Noah. There were some complications with the pregnancy and I was called in to spend the night in the hospital for observation. I remember Noel rang me when she was sick first but my mind was at ease when she had fallen back to sleep again. Then I got the phone call to say that things had worsened and that an ambulance was on the way, I was terrified and upset that I wasn’t there for her when she was so sick.” As the ambulance pulled up to the doors of the hospital, Siobhán was waiting for them but even as the nurse told her that things were not good, the full impact of the situation did not hit her. Although doctors tried to resuscitate Aoibhe at the hospital, the damage had been done and they were unsuccessful.
The death of a child is every parent’s worst nightmare and on that night, Siobhán and Noel Carroll’s was realised when little Aoibhe was taken from them. Despite the unbelievable anguish experienced from loosing a child, Siobhán still struggles with the fact that she never got to hold or say goodbye to Aoibhe before she passed away. “We’re heart broken”, admits Siobhán. “I don’t think we’ll ever get over the loss of Aoibhe, we’ll just learn to cope with it better as time goes on.” Speaking of her daughter she says “She was so full of life and really packed in so much in her short time here with us. She was always singing and dancing, constantly smiling. She had a real presence, you could feel there was something special about her. Losing Aoibhe has felt like a bad dream and small things remind me of her on a daily basis.”
Although Siobhán and her family have been through a kind of agony which most of us cannot even begin to comprehend, she has managed to channel her energy in to a cause that will hopefully help prevent other families going through the same thing. Having raised almost €60,000 since 2008 for other charities, and with a fantastic team behind her, Siobhán is now confident that she can make a difference to people’s lives. “If I can stop even just one family from experiencing a loss through meningitis by raising awareness of the symptoms and effects of the disease then I will be satisfied that I’ve done my job. As a family we have been stunned by the levels of support we have received following Aoibhe’s death. From people helping to raise money to old friends calling to see how we’re doing, everybody we’ve encountered has been so helpful.” And while Siobhán admits that although others can not take away their pain, they have done their utmost to make them as comfortable, and make their lives as easy as they can.
The night Aoibhe died was the worst of Siobhán’s life and she is now putting all of her efforts in to helping prevent other families from going through the trauma and heart break she felt after her little girl was taken from her. With such enormous support behind her, Siobhán’s goal for the charity is to raise funds to start a leaflet campaign which is to target all age groups but particularly those most at risks. GP’s offices, Creches and third level colleges and universities will be the main focus but hopefully their efforts will spread further in the future. With a number of exciting events lined up for the coming year, Siobhán is excited and positive for the future of the charity and her family.
“We have been through so much as a family and although we won’t ever get over what happened to Aoibhe, I hope this charity can put a positive light on such an awful time in our lives.” To contact Siobhán, make a donation or for volunteering for the Aoibh Carroll Trust, call 091 782828 or pop in to the office at Level 1, Liosbán Business Park, Tuam Rd., Galway.
