Janelle's Story (for Vincent)

Janelle's Story (for Vincent)

Large in stature and large in heart is how Invercargill Mum, Janelle, would describe her 17-year-old son Vincent. Standing at 6ft 5, she says Vincent was a big personality, a bit of a clown, and well-loved by his whānau and friends. In his last year of school, he was looking forward to his future with his girlfriend and had some exciting plans lined up for the following year.

In September 2022, Vincent was on study leave for exams, and had just returned from a huge week helping out at the Murihiku Polyfest as part of his involvement in the Whakamanahia Te Rangatahi Youth Mentor Programme and his school Kapa Haka, something he was incredibly passionate about. Janelle remembers Vincent was physically and emotionally exhausted from the week, so when she noticed he had a bit of an ongoing cough, they both attributed it to him being slightly run down from what had been a busy time of year.

On the morning of September 21st, Vincent had planned to head to school to catch up with his Māori teacher on an assignment, but returned home from the bus stop, complaining of a sore leg, to which she suggested he stay home and relax.

By 10 a.m., Vincent had begun vomiting and experiencing a mild fever. Janelle returned home from work at lunchtime with electrolytes for her son, to find him asleep with his curtains wide open and the sun pouring into the room.

Janelle’s first thought was ‘he has the flu or covid’. The idea of meningitis had never crossed her mind.

Reflecting now, Janelle still says it’s not something that would have sprung to mind, as adversity to light and a rash were the symptoms she most commonly associated with meningitis, neither of which Vincent was presenting.

Vincent spent the rest of the day sleeping on and off, taking Panadol for a headache, and drinking electrolytes, while Janelle and Vincent’s father, Nigel, continued to check in on him. At 10 pm that night Janelle said goodnight to her son.

“I remember my last words to him,” she recalls. “I said kia pai tō moe e tama, love you bub, see you in the morning.”

The next morning Vincent's younger brother came to Janelle, saying he had just been in Vincent's room and he was sleeping on the floor, something Janelle says was not unusual of her son to do if he got too hot during the night.

She remembers touching Vincent's chest and noticing he was quite warm, but decided to let him sleep so she could change his sheets, as he had been sick in his bed during the night. It was when Janelle attempted to wake her son that she realised he was no longer breathing.

An ambulance was called and Janelle started chest compressions, continuing until paramedics arrived 13 minutes later. For approximately five minutes the paramedics worked on Vincent, before breaking the news to Janelle that Vincent had passed and they were unable to determine the cause.

It wasn’t until the night of September 23rd that the coroner was able to confirm meningitis as the probable cause of death, and Janelle’s whanau, Vincent’s girlfriend and another close friend were directed to the hospital for emergency antibiotics.

Thinking about the 24 hours leading up to Vincent’s passing, Janelle says his symptoms of aching joints, headaches, and vomiting all pointed to the flu or covid. Even more disconcerting was a head nurse at their medical centre had told Janelle that if Vincent had presented to A&E with those symptoms, they would have likely done a covid test and sent him home to rest.

Because of this, Janelle, Nigel, and Vincent’s extended whānau are all strong advocates for meningitis awareness and vaccinations, as well as a recognition that not all cases will have typical meningitis symptoms.

“You see pamphlets on the doctor's wall for diabetes, for influenza, for smoking kills, but nothing on meningitis,” she says. “Even when I did first aid training last month, meningitis wasn't even brought up, it just seems to be forgotten.”

Janelle also wants education about the vaccine protection period to be highlighted to the public. Although Vincent was vaccinated as a baby, Janelle was unaware booster doses were recommended after 5 years, however she is concerned the cost of a booster vaccine would deter others from seeking them out.

On the one-year anniversary of Vincent's passing, Janelle has organised with his school to host a donation mufti day, with all proceeds going to The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand, which Janelle says is awesome to see, and hopes will bring greater awareness to how serious meningitis can be. Janelle also encourages parents to ‘trust their gut’ when it comes to their child’s health.

“If your child is unusually tired, or just doesn't seem normal, get it checked out,” she urges.

“Don't second guess it, just go for it. It's better to be safe than sorry or having to live through something like this.”

T