'On Saturday 8 January 2000 my little girl Lydia, who was just two and a half, contracted meningococcal septicaemia, one of the most dangerous forms of meningitis,' says Val Stephenson.
'Lydia was a mischievious, cheeky child, full of fun, who always filled the house with noise. That morning Lydia woke with a temperature of more than 104. I immediately rang my GP and he told me to give her Calpol and make sure she had plenty of fluids. She was off-colour, although nothing made me think that she was desperately ill. But as the day wore on, Lydia seemed to get worse and then a rash appeared.
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