In winter 2011, Archie had been suffering with normal winter colds but never seemed to shift them throughout the whole winter.  On 2nd January 2012 I took Archie to a friends house to play, he was happy, playing, eating toast and drinking his milk as normal. At 5pm we left to go home, as I put Archie in his car seat I noticed he was shivering so when we got I home I bathed Archie and he seemed okay but still shivering.  I got him dressed into his pyjamas and sat down to give him his milk, as I cuddled him on the sofa Archie slumped in my arms but was carrying on drinking his milk, he felt very hot so I measured his temperature and it was 41 degrees!  I quickly undressed him and noticed that he had 1 small spot which resembled a slight pen mark and was purple/red in colour, Archie had never had chicken pox before so I assumed maybe this was the start of that and gave him calpol.  His temperature was not decreasing with the medicine every 4 hours so I rang 111 at around midnight, they said a doctor would call back.  At 3am the doctor called back and asked me to do the 'glass test' which I did and the spot did not disappear with the pressure from the glass, the doctor told me to get to A and E straight away, by this point Archie had started to vomit.  We drove straight to A and E and they saw him straight away, the doctors stripped him down and immediately put him on IV fluids and antibiotics, it felt such a blur with a team of 3 doctors and nurses rushing around my baby, I tried to hold his little hand but the nurse told me it was serious and to just let them do their job. I will always be thankful to the amazing team on shift that day, they acted so quickly and I truly believe that was what made the difference. I will never forget the look of his little face, his eyes were completely glassed over.  I asked the doctor if he would be okay and he said they really couldn't say and that they suspected meningitis B.  My world fell to pieces and I prayed he would be okay.

We stayed in the hospital for 8 days, the first 4 days Archie was unconscious but responding well to the antibiotics and fortunately did not have to be moved to a London hospital.  When he came round, the doctors said we were very lucky and he would be okay my world felt complete again. A year later he had some tests and scans on his brain and all was confirmed that it hadn't affected him.

Now Archie is a strapping young boy aged 12, my miracle boy who I love more than words can describe.

Taking part in this 8 peak challenge has always been something I wanted to do to raise money for this amazing charity, so please, if you are able to donate a small amount to help me accomplish my goal.  I will be forever grateful.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts xxx