“He’d been absolutely fine,” Gaynor Simpson tells Kennedy News and Media about her son, Ross. In 2023, when he was 18 and a freshman at the University of Glasgow, Ross called her from school to say that suddenly, “he wasn’t feeling particularly well.”<\/p>\n
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The Simpson family (from left: Gaynor, Stuart, Ross, and Scott)
Credit: KennedyNews\/GaynorSimpson<\/p>\n
Ross had attended a party the week before \u2014 and now, had a headache and struggled to sleep. Simpson “asked him if he wanted to come home and I could keep an eye on him, and we’re very thankful that he did.” When he got home, Ross took a painkiller and went to bed. Later that evening, Simpson said, “He was sat in his bed with his head in his hands and said he couldn’t stand the pain in his head.”<\/p>\n
That’s when Ross threw up on the floor \u2014 and Simpson immediately suspected the cause of his sickness, asking him if was experiencing any of the symptoms of meningitis: “I asked him if he had a stiff neck and he said yes, then asked him why the light was off in his room and he said he couldn’t stand the light in his eyes,” she said. “Then I said, ‘I think this is meningitis.’ “<\/p>\n
She rushed her son to the hospital, where his condition deteriorated. He was admitted to the ICU and put on life support after becoming unresponsive. Testing confirmed he had meningitis, which had triggered sepsis<\/a>, a potentially fatal immune response.<\/p>\n “The first three days were really uncertain. We were told it was very possible that he might not make it. He was incredibly ill,” Simpson said. After five days on life support, “he managed to turn a corner.”<\/p>\n Ross Simpson with his dog “It was a long road to recovery. We’re very lucky. It’s the worst thing that any parent can possibly go through. You’re not the same person again after that,” she said, calling meningitis “a cruel and very unforgiving disease. It’s terrifying how quickly it can move. It’s so important that people know the symptoms.”<\/p>\n Simpson shared that a girl from the same party her son had attended also ended up hospitalized, theorizing, “he probably did get it at the party, you just don’t know. It’s just unlucky they both ended up developing it and thankfully both survived.”<\/p>\n Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the ongoing U.K. rise of meningitis cases in the college town Canterbury, which has sickened 27 and caused the deaths of an 18-year-old girl, identified as Juliette<\/a>, from the English county of Kent, and an unnamed 21-year-old University of Kent student. A 9-month-old infant<\/a> has also been hospitalized with meningitis B. The U.K. Health Security Agency says the baby “is not currently linked to the outbreak but UKHSA will continue to investigate this case.”\u00a0The outbreak has been called a “super-spreader” by health officials, leading many to call for increased awareness about the meningitis B vaccine, which was introduced in 2015.<\/p>\n Ross Simpson nearly died after contracting meningitis![\"Ross](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/c33b7899971d975de53339af3381d541.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: KennedyNews\/GaynorSimpson<\/p>\n![\"Ross](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/d0d396df451f1d09d8e3394d28a1116d.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: KennedyNews\/GaynorSimpson<\/p>\n