A young woman has told how she was struck down with suspected meningitis just hours after her boyfriend was rushed to hospital.
“Terrified” Millie Collins is recovering at home after contracting the illness from partner Owen Davies, who remains in intensive care fighting the infection.
Millie Collins contracted meningitis through her boyfriend, Owen Davies, who had been at Canterbury’s Club Chemistry on March 5. Picture: Millie Collins
The 20-year-old had been at Canterbury nightclub Club Chemistry – which has been linked to the “unprecedented” outbreak in Kent – on March 5, before falling seriously ill days later.
It was not till 12 days later that Owen developed alarming symptoms, including fainting, sickness and shaking. He was taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford yesterday (Tuesday) and placed in an emergency isolation room in intensive care.
Millie, 22, and her housemates were told to rush to the hospital – despite initially having no symptoms.
But within hours, her condition suddenly changed.
Retail worker Millie, from Canterbury, said: “My boyfriend was at Club Chemistry on March 5, and he stayed at my house literally every single day since then.
Millie Collins shared a picture of one of the isolation units in the ICU at the William Harvey Hospital, where her boyfriend, OwenDavies, is being treated. Picture: Millie Collins
“On Monday night, he came over and he was completely fine – there were no issues. We were talking about the illness an hour before he left at about midnight.
“I woke up at 5am on Tuesday to loads of missed calls and he told me he had been admitted to hospital.
“They tried to call an ambulance for him but they couldn’t because too many had been sent out in the area already. He was fainting, sick and shaking.”
Millie phoned NHS 111 for advice but says she was initially told not to worry.
“They said I could still go to work, so I went in for an hour, but then the William Harvey Hospital phoned me and said that my housemates and I needed to go there immediately,” she said.
After waiting two hours, her own symptoms hit without warning.
Millie Collins contracted meningitis through her boyfriend, Owen Davies, who had been at Canterbury’s Club Chemistry on March 5. Picture: Millie Collins
“I waited for about two hours to be seen, but then I got extremely faint,” she added.
“My blood pressure was really bad, my temperature had gone all the way up and I had a rash randomly under my eye – I had no symptoms beforehand. I only went because my boyfriend had it.
“I was immediately put into an emergency isolation room, where I found my boyfriend, and they let us stay together.”
She described being placed in strict isolation alongside Owen as medics raced to treat them.
“I’m not sure if it’s just specifically for meningitis but there’s a huge room,” she said.
“If you have it you get put in your own little glass box with a bed and it just says, ‘contagious, do not go in’.”
Millie Collins receiving treatment for meningitis at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. Picture: Millie Collins
Doctors gave Millie antibiotics and later confirmed the infection, allowing her to return home to isolate. But she says the ordeal is far from over.
“I still feel ill but they’ve told me that even just recovering from the illness is just going to feel like this,” she said.
“It can take weeks even though I was such an early case of it.
“My boyfriend, who is a confirmed case as of today, has been told that it could take years to be fully better from it.”
Millie is now battling lingering symptoms including faintness, headaches and fatigue – and fears her condition could suddenly worsen.
“I still am terrified because the hospital phoned me today and they said antibiotics don’t always work,” she added.
Students receive a vaccine in the sports hall at University of Kent campus. Picture: PA
“So there’s a chance that I might have to go back.
“They said to me with meningitis, you can feel fine one day, the next day be really bad, and then fine the next.”
Owen, from Canterbury, remains in intensive care but is trying to stay positive.
“He’s still the same person,” Millie said. “He’s joking, he’s just more p***ed off that he can’t come home.
“But when the hospital called me and I asked them a few hours ago, ‘Is he going to be OK?’, they said with meningitis it’s really hard to tell because one minute you’re feeling completely fine and then you can go rapidly downhill. It’s very up and down.”
The couple, who have only recently become official after dating for a few months, are now facing an anxious wait as Owen continues his fight in hospital.
Neither Millie nor Owen is a student at the University of Kent, which has been at the centre of the outbreak.
Club Chemistry in Canterbury
Students at the city campus have begun being vaccinated, with hundreds queuing outside the sports hall this afternoon.
Up to 5,000 students are expected to be contacted and offered the jab.
During Prime Minister’s Questions today, Sir Keir Starmer expressed his “deepest condolences” to the families and friends of the two young people who have died amid the outbreak.
Five new cases were confirmed this morning, taking the total linked to the Canterbury outbreak to 20. All have required hospital treatment – including a sixth-former who is in an induced coma.
Six of the confirmed cases are the group B meningococcal disease.
The deaths include a University of Kent student and Juliette, a Year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham, described by her head teacher as a “much-loved and treasured member of our school community”.
Here is everything we know so far about the meningitis outbreak
UKHSA has now declared an urgent public health alert. A message has been sent to the health system across England advising on signs to look out for among patients and treatment options.