Healthy dad of three 'went to bed' with earache - he died three hours later

A heartbroken woman has told of the catastrophic daze of losing her 'fit and healthy' hubby to a devastating corruption that killed him successful 3 hours. 

Pete Hynes, 40, went for a 'lie down' 1 Saturday greeting successful December 2022 aft suffering a abrupt earache, which helium enactment down to a acold that had struck the remainder of the family.

But moments aboriginal helium collapsed. 

An ambulance rushed him to the section hospital, wherever tests revealed helium was suffering from the deadly bacterial infection, meningococcal meningitis.

The illness involves lethal bacteria called Neisseria meningitidis infecting the membranes that screen and support the encephalon and spinal cord. 

It progresses quickly, arsenic the bug soon enters the humor and damages the walls of the humor vessels, causing bleeding successful the tegument and organs. Often, this triggers life-threatening sepsis.

Despite doctors' attempts to prevention the father-of-three, Mr Hynes died wrong 3 hours, The Mirror reported. 

'We could ne'er person known that our lives were to everlastingly alteration from that time onwards,' said his wife, Lou Hynes, 48, a careers coach.

Meningitis, affects astir 8,000 radical successful the UK each year. 

Children, babies and young adults are astir often affected, arsenic their immune systems are weaker.

Meningitis tin beryllium caused by bacteria, viruses oregon fungi. 

Bacterial meningitis is the astir terrible and rare, affects conscionable 1 successful 100,000 people. A 4th of cases successful adults beryllium fatal. 

Symptoms see a abrupt onset of fever, aggravated headache, cervix stiffness, nausea and vomiting – each of which tin look akin to a flu oregon tummy bug.

But the corruption spreads quickly, and tin make into sepsis – a convulsive immune strategy effect to the corruption successful which the assemblage begins to onslaught its ain organs.

Those with sepsis oregon meningitis volition often make a rash of tiny reddish oregon 'pinprick' marks which tin crook into larger reddish oregon purple areas resembling bruises. 

Most rashes volition slice nether pressure, specified arsenic erstwhile pressed nether a glass, arsenic humor proviso is restricted and the tegument whitens.

The corruption has near a lasting interaction connected the Hynes family.

Ms Hynes has described times since her husband's decease erstwhile she 'just couldn't get retired of bed'.

'I'd ne'er experienced thing similar it. The kids were coming successful and talking to me, their mouths were moving, but I couldn't perceive immoderate words and I virtually couldn't move,' she said.

'The paralysis was the culmination of each those months of not having processed Pete's decease astatine all. 

'Reality abruptly hit, This is my beingness now. It each culminated successful that benignant of breakdown.'

'I honestly felt that anyone could person said oregon done thing and I wouldn't person cared, I had wholly zoned out.'

The household has truthful acold raised implicit £6,000 for foundation Meningitis Now, via a JustGiving page. 

There is simply a vaccine for meningitis but Mr Hynes would not person been eligible.

The MenACWY vaccine – which protects against the 4 astir communal strains of meningitis – is offered astatine schoolhouse and is disposable to anyone nether 25. 

And the MenB vaccine – extortion against the bacteria that caused the corruption that killed Pete – was introduced successful 2016 but is lone offered to babies connected the NHS.

Research shows that teenagers are astatine precocious hazard of the infection.

One successful 4 15-19 twelvemonth olds transportation the bacteria successful their throat, compared to 1 successful 10 of the UK colonisation truthful are much apt to dispersed it.

The UKHSA has antecedently warned that each twelvemonth University students get 'seriously ill, with immoderate tragically dying' from the preventable disease.

UKHSA advisor epidemiologist, Dr Shamez Ladhani, said: 'With ample numbers of students coming unneurotic from astir the state and overseas for the archetypal time, and intimately mixing, corruption tin dispersed easily.

'Ensuring you are protected against these deadly bugs is vital.'