'Meningitis can hit adults too'

9:42am Friday 17th November 2006

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Kidlington gardener John Mortimer is warning adults that meningitis can affect them too - after he almost died from the disease He spoke out after the death of Cheney School pupil Kyomie Williams on Saturday.

Kyomie, 12, from Barton, died at the John Radcliffe Hospital, after being admitted two days earlier with meningococcal bacteria.

Mr Mortimer, 65, from Cherwell Drive, told the Oxford Mail he was "half an hour from death" after contracting the pneumococcal bacteria in February.

His grand-daughter Bethan was a friend of Kyomie's - and the youngster's death has prompted Mr Mortimer to tell others to look out for the warning signs.

He said: "My wife came home and found me in a bad way and called the ambulance - I was told afterwards that I was lucky to be alive.

"I did have a rash on my arms but I thought I had got it from hedge-cutting.

"I am still suffering the effects of what happened - sometimes it feels like I am walking round like a zombie - and I want people to realise that meningitis doesn't just affect the young ones."

He can still only raise his left arm to shoulder height and he has suffered a loss of taste - to the extent that he puts mint sauce on a lot of his food.

Mr Mortimer, a father-of-four, who runs a gardening and cleaning business, said he was shivering in bed before his head "started burning".

Mr Mortimer's wife June, 55, added: "Afterwards, we found out that John had a chest infection, which turned to pneumonia and then meningitis.

"His left shoulder got blood-poisoning, so he needed an operation to drain his arm and his hearing was also affected, so now he needs a hearing aid.

"If I hadn't come back for lunch that day when I did, John would not be with us today. He was in a really bad way and I called for help straight away."

Approximately 3,000 cases are reported every year in the UK, but meningitis experts estimate that this could be half the true picture.

One third of cases are adults, with the remaining two thirds children under the age of 16.