BY MARK McKELVEY

A Castlederg family has highlighted the dangers of meningococcal septicemia after their 20 month-old daughter made a "miraculous recovery" when she contracted this deadly illness a couple of weeks ago.

Siobhan and Keith McMenamin thanked not only their friends but also the many strangers who prayed for their daughter Cara to return to full health as they kept vigil by her bedside in Altnagelvin Hospital when told "her life was in God's hands" during those critical first three days.

Warning of how quickly this severe form of meningitis can strike, the McMenamins also expressed their anger that Strabane's out-of- hours surgery, Mournedoc, sent them home to Castlederg only hours before Cara was rushed to hospital by ambulance. They said this "put Cara's life at risk".

Cara started to display a high temperature at about 7pm on Monday, February 11. It got progressively worse.

Siobhan says she first rang Mournedoc at midnight and was told "there was no need to come down".

Siobhan continued her harrowing tale, "Cara started hallucinating, so I rang again at 2.30am and the doctor told me to come in if we felt it was necessary. We were literally there for only five minutes as he checked Cara's temperature and looked in her eyes and sent us home saying it was possibly a virus and to see our doctor in the morning.

"At 10am the next morning, her lips started to turn blue so we rushed her to Dr Bailey's in Castlederg and he immediately got an ambulance which took us 'blue light' all the way to Altnagelvin.

"When we got to Altnagelvin the nurse was assessing Cara and at that stage the tell-tale spots were coming out before our eyes, which let us know it was a form of meningitis which we later discovered was meningococcal septicemia."

Meningococcal bacteria live naturally in the throat and back of the nose and are capable of causing death within eight hours of the first symptom appearing. It is believed around 20% of people actually carry this bacteria at any one time without ever becoming ill. The danger occurs if you pick up a strain and your immune system is weakened for some reason.

"The first three days, Cara was critical. This is the blood-poisoning form of meningitis so it effectively causes organ failure and in many cases limbs have to be amputated if it is not treated in time, illustrating how important it is to receive treatment as quickly as possible," said Siobhan.

Cara was discharged from Altnagelvin on Sunday, February 17, and is now 100% better with no lasting damage after returning home with her parents and four year-old sister Ellie.

Siobhan believes Cara's recovery has been amazing considering the delay in receiving treatment.

"'If I had the chance to talk to the doctor at Mournedoc, I don't know what I would do," she said angrily. "I feel his decision to send us home put our daughters life at risk. There was no-one else there, but he made me feel like an over-zealous mother that was an inconvenience.

"I would never wish this on any parent. It is important to be vigilant of the symptoms and go to hospital immediately as it is better to be safe than sorry as every minute does count," said the emotional mother.

Siobhan and Keith thanked everyone who prayed for Cara, making reference to their parish priest in Castlederg who was actually in Lourdes at the time and, when told of the McMenamin's plight, he also prayed there for her to get better.

"I wouldn't say that I was overly religious, but having been through something like this I believe that everybody's prayers really did help, especially after the doctor telling us Cara was so critical, her life was in God's hands," said Siobhan.

The couple also praised the staff in Altnagelvin who Siobhan described as "outstanding" in there efforts and heartfelt concern for their daughter's health and recovery, with nurses coming to see how she was doing at the start and end of each shift.

A spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Services Board that controls Mournedoc said they couldn't comment publicly due to patient confidentiality and no complaint has been received by Western Urgent Care regarding this patient.