'Meningitis killed our teenage son in days'

The parents of an 18-year-old who died from meningitis just days after complaining of headaches, have called on other families to be vigilant of the disease.

It comes after an outbreak in Kent, affecting three schools and a university, with two young people dead and 11 others taken to hospital since Friday.

Deniz and Anthony Mills, from Kidderminster, lost their son Aaron at the beginning of the year, during a visit home from studying in Liverpool.

They said they had been left "confused" when hospital staff diagnosed him with meningitis B (MenB), as they thought he had been vaccinated while at school.

After checking with their GP, they learnt Aaron, like all children his age in the UK, had only been vaccinated for MenACWY, a vaccine that does not cover MenB.

Recalling the days leading up to her son's death, Deniz said the family had just celebrated her husband's 50th birthday and had enjoyed a great Christmas.

But on 29 December, Aaron had been "tired and a bit run down" before waking up with a headache the following day.

"I could hear him pottering around in the bathroom moaning," Deniz said. "So I got up to see if he was OK and he just said he had a really bad headache.

"He came downstairs with me, had some tablets, a drink, and we sat and chatted for a while."

Aaron then went back to bed, but 30 minutes later Deniz said she heard "screaming" coming from upstairs.

"He was having a seizure. Anthony had gone into his bedroom to see what was going on," she said.

"His eyes were open but he was fitting and unresponsive, he didn't know we were there."

Paramedics were at the house within 14 minutes and suspected meningitis almost immediately.

Deniz said her son had not suffered any typical symptoms of meningitis, such as a rash or a stiff neck, just a headache.

He was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where his mother said he began to "calm down".

"I thought at the time, being in the ambulance, that the antibiotics had started to kick in," she said.

"I later learnt that it was Aaron losing most of his basic brain function before he'd even got to Worcester."

Aaron was later transferred to Coventry for brain surgery but family was told after the procedure that it "would not be good news".

On 3 January, just days after his initial seizure, he was pronounced dead.

Discussing the diagnosis, Anthony, Aaron's father, said: "When the hospital told us it was meningitis I was confused, because I thought Aaron had been vaccinated, and we checked and he was.

"But we didn't know until afterwards that there are different strains of meningitis.

"I'm 50 years old and I'd never heard of different strains of meningitis so you automatically think your child is covered for meningitis."

While Aaron was at school, children around 14 years of age, were offered the MenACWY vaccine, which replaced the MenC vaccine in 2015.

Neither vaccine protects against MenB, but since July 2025 a MenB vaccine has been offered to babies at two, three and 12 months. It is also available privately.

Deniz said: "You just put your faith in medical professionals and the NHS, and presume they will protect your children against everything they'd need.

"I feel like we've been let down a bit."

Although it was too late for her own family, Deniz called for more awareness of the MenB strain.

"There also needs to be more awareness that there is a vaccine for that, even if the government isn't prepared to offer it to older adultescents and adults," she said.

"They need to make people aware that the vaccine is available."

The BBC has contacted the UK Health Security Agency for comment.

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