REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday March 18, 2003

THREE telltale purple spots were the difference between life and death for little Tahnee King.

Gone unnoticed, they could have killed her. Mum Leanne realised she was not necessarily dealing with just another childhood virus, but the deadly meningococcal disease.

“I had seen so many newspaper articles and television reports on the disease and I knew a purple rash was one of the symptoms,” she said.

She rushed her daughter straight to emergency at the Gold Coast Hospital.

Five-year-old Tahnee was immediately diagnosed with the disease and given a course of antibiotics.

“I just assumed meningococcal was something which would automatically kill her,” Mrs King said, speaking from Tahnee’s bedside at the hospital.

“It was a pretty scary experience.”

She first noticed Tahnee was unwell when she came home from pre-school with sore legs and a high temperature.

Tahnee’s condition worsened with vomiting and her temperature continued to rise.

Early the next day, Mrs King made the terrifying discovery, three purple spots on her daughter’s stomach.

“There were three of them when we left, but doubled by the time we arrived at hospital and just kept spreading.

“I could just see them creeping up before my eyes. It all happened pretty quickly.”

She and husband Byron had breathed a huge sigh of relief on hearing that their daughter would be fine.