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By Daniella Gray
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A U.K. mom who captured a photo of her healthy baby before bedtime had no idea she would be fighting for her life.
Charmaine, from the northwest of England, took a picture of her daughter Darla just hours before the medical emergency unfolded.
The first sign that something might be wrong came during the early hours of the morning when Darla woke with a mild temperature of 38.4°C (101.1°F).
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Charmaine, who is also mom to Oscar, 7, and Thomas, 5, with partner Johnjoe, gave Darla some Calpol as she was teething.
A few hours later, however, the situation changed dramatically.
"At first, I just thought she was tired and sleepy," Charmaine told Newsweek. "When I noticed she wasn’t responding to her name, I panicked and knew something wasn’t right. That's when I rang 999."
By 8 a.m. the next morning, Darla's head was tilted to one side, she appeared gray in color, and was unusually lethargic.
When paramedics arrived, their initial assessment appeared reassuring.
"They did all her observations and they came back normal," Charmaine said. "Heart rate, temperature and oxygen levels were perfectly fine, they told me it’s probably just a viral infection and they would take her up as she did look lethargic, but I didn’t need to worry."
That decision may have saved her life.
Within 10 minutes of arriving at the hospital, Darla's condition deteriorated rapidly.
She recalled seeing more than a dozen medical staff surrounding her daughter as emergency treatment began.
Charmaine said it was "the worst time of my life." She cried and prayed her daughter would be OK.
"When I heard the words 'this baby is dying,' I went lightheaded and the world felt like it had stopped," she said. "What was 10 minutes felt like hours."
After being stabilized with antibiotics and fluids, Darla was transferred to another hospital. Doctors warned that the next 24 to 48 hours would be critical.
Charmaine said doctors began treating her daughter for sepsis and meningitis as a precaution, but warned that confirming the cause could take up to two days.
She described the agonizing wait for test results as "hell."
Blood tests and a lumbar puncture eventually revealed the cause: bacterial meningitis caused by meningococcus, a serious strain that can become fatal within hours.
"When the doctor sat us down and explained what it was my heart dropped," Charmaine said. "I felt my body shutting down I was so terrified for my baby’s life, but they reassured me I’d caught it early and she was in the best place."
After multiple rounds of antibiotics and several frightening setbacks, Darla gradually began to improve.
Now, Charmaine said her daughter is doing well, though she is recovering from some kidney damage caused during her illness.
Looking back, Charmaine wants other parents to trust their instincts, even when symptoms appear mild.
"Usually with meningitis, the child is poorly beforehand," she said. "In Darla's case she wasn’t. The main signs to be aware of [are] high temperature, stiffness of the neck, light sensitivity, not responding when being talked to and, in most cases, a rash that does not disappear when being pressed."
Charmaine shared her daughter's story in a post on TikTok (@charmarie11x) where she encouraged parents to become familiar with the symptoms of bacterial meningitis.
"I urge parents to go A&E or ring an ambulance if you have a slight gut feeling something isn’t right with your child," she said. "If I had waited even half an hour longer, my baby would not be alive today."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Charlotte Nisbet and Emma Lee-Sang
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