Boy, 18, dies of meningitis after falling ill at festival
THE sister of a teenager who died yesterday after falling ill with meningitis at a music festival has accused the event’s medical staff of dismissing him as ‘drunk’.
George Zographou, 18, spent his final days in a coma before his family decided to switch off the machine keeping him alive.
His sister Nicole Zographou, 29, launched a scathing attack on Boardmasters Festival in Newquay, Cornwall, which last weekend attracted crowds of 50,000.
She accused the event of ‘not listening’ and claimed things could have been ‘very different’ for her brother.
In a post on Facebook, Miss Zographou claimed medical staff initially assumed her brother was drunk. Addressing organisers directly, she alleged: ‘You didn’t listen to him. You told him his [Meningococcal] rash was a fracture.
‘You didn’t believe him when he said he hadn’t drunk. When he acted aggressively you gave him morphine and put him on his back and left him alone.
‘You told my mum he would stay with the doctor but he didn’t. When you came back he had no pulse and was unresponsive.’
Miss Zographou added: ‘ Things could be very different for my family if maybe you had paid more attention and hadn’t assumed he was drunk and disorderly.’
But Boardmasters’ on-site doctor Dr Aaron Pennell said Mr Zographou had ‘at no point’ been considered ‘to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol’ and had not shown ‘any signs of sepsis or indeed Meningococcal disease’. He added: ‘ He was fully monitored in the majors section of the medical area and had regular observations throughout. At no point was he left alone under our care.’
Dr Pennell said Mr Zographou was seen by a senior doctor immediately, and was transferred to the medical tent before being taken to hospital when his condition deteriorated.
Mr Zographou died as a result of the Meningococcal B strain, which is most common in infants, his sister said. He was described as a straight A student who sailed through his GCSEs.
He is the second person from his school to die from meningitis in the last 14 months – although yesterday St Brendan’s Sixth Form College, in Bristol, said it was ‘ highly unlikely’ the cases were linked.
Public Health England yesterday said it was investigating a confirmed case of meningococcal disease.
A festival spokesman said: ‘ The Boardmasters team are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of George Zographou who attended Boardmasters last weekend.’
They had earlier stressed that Mr Zographou had been ‘ unwell in the days prior’ to the event.
‘You didn’t listen to him’