Alice Jenkins, 19, thought she had coronavirus going to college, but when she did a FaceTime to her mother about her unusual symptoms, she was told to dial 999.
Alice Jenkins thought she had Covid, but it turned out to be meningitis (
Image courtesy of Alice Jenkins / SWNS)
A college student thought she had Covid, but it turned out to be a deadly meningitis.
Alice Jenkins, 19, woke up on May 18 with sore limbs and temperature, and assumed she had coronavirus as her roommates in the hallways had it the week before.
Students at the University of Edinburgh were planning a break-up after finishing their exams and were supposed to go to a nightclub that night, but Alice spent the whole day sleeping.
Finally, he did a FaceTime with his mother Sarah, 58, complaining that he was feeling unwell.
Alice, from Esher, Surrey, thought the muscle pain was because she fell while playing netball a few days earlier, but when she woke up from a nap she was dripping with sweat and had a rash.
Sarah, a mother of two, told him to do a “glass test” – pressing a glass against the eruption to see if it disappeared. When he didn’t, he told Alice to dial 999.
Sarah, a magistrate, learned of the symptoms of meningitis, as a neighbor’s daughter had died at the age of 14.
When Alice woke up from a nap, she was dripping with sweat and had a rash (
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Courtesy Alice Jenkins / SWNS) A rash appeared on her body (
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Courtesy Alice Jenkins / SWNS)
Her quick thinking meant Alice, who studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics [PPE]he was able to receive medical treatment immediately, which meant that he did not suffer any lasting damage, unlike many young people who may end up with hearing loss, paralysis or brain damage from the disease.
Alice said she was embarrassed to call 999 and a friend called her.
She was taken to the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh where she became so ill that she became unconscious, and says she thinks the experience was more terrifying for other people, as she can barely remember it.
After 24 hours she learned that the doctors around her were talking about paralysis, but both parents hurried to be with her.
On May 19, she was transferred to the Infectious Diseases Unit at Western General Hospital, which she described as an American Horror Story.
He was discharged on May 24 and said he later suffered a mild headache and will need a hearing test within a month.
Alice in the hospital with her father Richard (
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Courtesy Alice Jenkins / SWNS) Alice with her mother Sarah (
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Courtesy Alice Jenkins / SWNS)
Alice is now on holiday in Croatia and says she believes her mother’s quick thinking saved her life.
Alice and her mother now want to make other young people aware of the dangers of the deadly disease, which Alice took four months after the expiration of her vaccination and which especially affects teenagers.
“If I hadn’t had the rash I wouldn’t have gone to the hospital, all I had were sore limbs and temperature,” he said.
“The week before my roommates had Covid, the typical symptoms of meningitis like a stiff neck and being sick didn’t start until I was in the hospital.
“When I was admitted to the hospital, I was given antibiotics, steroids and antivirals, without knowing what it was.
“I was very scared to go to A&E, I woke up that night with a rash and I got a rash on Facetime from my mom saying ‘phone 999’.
“I was saying ‘I don’t want to,’ but a friend did it for me.”
Kirstin Malcolm, 19, a friend from home, went to the hospital to keep Alice company and kept in touch with her parents, and then brought her a made-up bag when they learned that would stay.
Kirstin wasn’t too worried about Alice getting tired after a hectic week of pubs, clubs and shopping, but she was alarmed when she received a message saying “I’m at A&E lol”.
She brought a sick bowl to her friend who was vomiting “black bile” and looked like she could only communicate by blinking, before being taken to an Acute Medical Unit.
Alice added: “It was probably easier for me because I didn’t know what was going on.
“I couldn’t find it on Google, so I didn’t know how dangerous it is.”
A wooden puncture test diagnosed a group B meningococcus, against which Alice had been vaccinated when she was about 14 years old.
He urged other young people to check if their vaccines had expired and to reserve a booster if they had done so, as theirs ran out in January.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the brain that can be transmitted by kissing, sneezing and coughing, although Alice told Public Health Scotland that she had no idea where she might have gotten it.
No one else in her wards or as far as she knows got sick of it, but she described her friends ‘parents’ reaction as “petrified” when they found out.
She said: “I didn’t have a headache until I went to the hospital, I didn’t have a sore throat, I didn’t vomit.
“When I was stabbed, I was told I could be paralyzed or have sepsis, or lose my fingers or toes, or have hearing loss or brain damage.
Alice, 19, woke up one morning with sore limbs and temperature (
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Courtesy Alice Jenkins / SWNS)
“I had to stay away from people because meningitis is contagious, it was pretty lonely, but I had a Percy Pig toy with me.
“Because I slept so much I felt less alone.”
Her father Richard, 58, shortened her cycling holiday in Italy to visit her and her mother took the first train to Edinburgh from Surrey.
Alice said: “I didn’t even kiss anyone, but I’m glad I didn’t go on holiday.
“I had to go to Marbella, but that was canceled, but the doctors didn’t think it would be good enough to go to Croatia.
“It’s scary: I was planning to go to a nightclub on Wednesday, but I woke up and I didn’t feel so well, and in five hours I was in the hospital.
“As a family, we are more aware that we know someone who died because of this, but we did not know that the vaccination had expired.
“My chances were one in 10, but now I feel completely myself.”
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