A mom has spoken out to warn others after she watched her daughter fall into a coma as a result of a meningitis infection that she caught by sharing a vape with other people.
Sian Alderton contracted the life-threatening disease while on one of her first ever nights out as a young woman at a nightclub in October 2024, with the 18-year-old developing a rash and vomiting after returning home.
When she was taken to hospital, it emerged that she had a bacterial meningitis B infection and was placed in a medically-induced coma as her condition deteriorated. With this bug mostly being passed through saliva droplets, medics believed a shared vape may have been the culprit.
Terrified mom Kerrie Durrant has shared how, in just a few short hours after her daughter fell seriously ill, doctors told her that Sian may never wake up again and could be dead in just 24 hours.
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37-year-old Kerrie, a resident of Norwich, England, said that the evening had been like any other, albeit with Sian feeling quite sick, but there were a number of signs that it was no ordinary illness.
She said: “We had a Chinese and we ate normally. At about 8pm she said ‘mum, I don’t feel well’. She wanted to get into my bed – she never wants to get into my bed when she’s ill, so she was quite clingy.
“Through the night, I could hear her waking up. From about 8pm to 5.30/6 in the morning she slept, apart from being sick. I kept an eye on her throughout the day and I noticed she wasn’t perking up.
"She was drinking like a goldfish. I said ‘let’s go to the toilet.’ She got up and she couldn’t move – she was aching.
“She crawled to the bathroom. That was the moment I said: ‘hang on a minute, something’s not right’.”
Kerrie decided to take her daughter to hospital, where her daughter was placed into a coma. But thankfully, after being told she probably wouldn't make it through the day, Sian pulled through without any major complications or lasting brain damage.
However, sadly, two other teens in the UK have died from meningitis B in the past few weeks, following a larger outbreak at a nightclub in Kent that has resulted in more than 50 infections.
Like with Sian's case, epidemiologists are examining whether vape sharing could also have been the nexus of this outbreak which has largely affected young people.
Now 19, Sian has spoken out about her experience in light of this new outbreak. She shared: “I did share a vape with multiple people on that night out, so we believe that’s where I would have gotten it from.
“I haven’t gone on any nights out since then – the most I’ve had the courage to do is go to a pub for maybe an or hour or two, but other than that I haven’t wanted to go out since.
“It hasn’t put me off vapes, though I wouldn’t share with anybody any more.
“If someone you know has a ‘sickness bug’, but they are also quite delirious or more aggressive than usual, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“Get it checked ASAP – sometimes the rash doesn’t even appear on people, so you wouldn’t have thought they’d be in a life or death situation.”
Mom Kerrie added: “People need to be aware it affects anyone.
“Anyone can get it, it doesn’t matter whether you’re fit and healthy, if it wants to get you, it will.”
What are the symptoms of meningitis?
According to the Mayo Clinic, early meningitis symptoms can be similar to the flu and might come on over several hours or a few days.
In those aged two years old and up, a meningitis infection could appear as:
- Sudden high fever
- Stiff neck
- Bad headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Confusion or trouble concentrating
- Seizures
- Sleepiness or trouble waking
- Sensitivity to light
- No desire to eat or drink
- Skin rash sometimes, such as in meningococcal meningitis
William Morgan