The parents of a 4-year-old boy who died after contracting a form of meningitis are honoring him by raising awareness about the fatal disease — and collecting money for further research.
Sammy and John Knowles shared their story with both the BBC and the local outlet Yorkshire Live, just days after their only child Jaxon died in the hospital on Feb. 17 of meningococcal disease.
Jaxon was the couple’s “miracle baby,” Sammy told Yorkshire Live, as he was their “last chance of having kids” following seven years of trying and five rounds of IVF ahead of his eventual July 2020 birth in Sheffield, England. The couple had three miscarriages and “had almost given up” before welcoming Jaxon, the mother added to the BBC.
“We’d wanted him for so long, we never thought we could do enough for him,” Sammy told the outlet. “Every birthday was over the top — petting zoos, circus rides — we went to Lapland at Christmas.”
Jaxon Knowles.
MuchLoved
The Knowles family’s lives changed forever after they returned from a weekend trip to Blackpool, England, on Feb. 16. At the time, the family noticed that their son began to complain about the area “under his arm” hurting and having a “tummy ache,” Sammy and John told both outlets.
“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 told Yorkshire Live of Jaxon. “He often got chest infections, so it was nothing new. I gave him some Calpol, which usually sorts out illnesses and did keep his temperature down.”
After staying up with her son until 2 a.m., Sammy woke back up three hours later and spotted a rash while checking her son’s temperature, she told the outlet. Though she first thought it could have been chicken pox, she “immediately saw how bad it was” upon turning on a lamp, per Yorkshire Live.
The rash, she told the BBC, looked like “burst veins,” and her son soon “threw up and his mouth started swelling up.” The couple then called emergency services, and officials asked them to put Jaxon on the floor and count his breaths.
“It felt like an eternity had passed until emergency responders arrived, then the ambulance crews. We were not told anything about it being meningitis until we were in the ambulance, where we were told 15 nurses and doctors were waiting in the ICU of Rotherham Hospital,” Jaxon’s mom told Yorkshire Live. “I was in shock, as I had not heard anything about meningitis for years.”
While in the hospital, Jaxon’s rash turned purple, and he was bleeding from his eyes. His parents attempted to comfort him by singing his “favorite lullabies,” his mom told Yorkshire Live. Per the BBC, doctors were able to restart Jaxon’s heart at one point, but he later died on the morning of Feb. 17.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Sammy told Yorkshire Live. “He was fine all weekend, and in a matter of hours he is gone. There were no symptoms of meningitis.”
Meningococcal disease, which Jaxon ended up contracting, is a bacterial infection that impacts the lining of the brain and spinal cord and causes swelling, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the Meningitis Nowcharity, 10% of cases of the life-threatening infection — which is caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis — result in death.
Now, the Knowles family is hoping to spread awareness about the disease and have launched their Jaxon Knowles Forever Fund — which will raise money for the Meningitis Now charity. So far, they’ve brought in over £13,000 — roughly $17,000 — in honor of their late son.
“We know there was no vaccination that Jax could take,” his mom told the BBC. “Perhaps with more funding and more research, things can change in the future.”
“We now have a massive void. The house is empty, but if we can help just one family now, that is something,” she added.
