Champion waterskier Kristy Appleton could have been ‘dead within an hour’ after a public hospital failed to diagnose a deadly disease but her mum saved the day by getting a second opinion.
Kristy, 17, fronted Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital on Friday August 9 suffering meningococcal disease but was instead brusquely diagnosed with Covid 19 and sent home with just paracetamol to take.
It was only after Kristy’s condition drastically deteriorated and she woke up screaming that she and her mother were rushed by ambulance to the Mater Private hospital, where they said their concerns were finally taken seriously.
Kristy, who is studying Year 11 in between travelling the world to compete in waterskiing, said Princess Alexandra staff were totally dismissive of her.
She had tested positive for Covid, but knew it was something more.
‘My head was exploding and my whole body was in agony, I struggled to walk and was vomiting up huge amounts of fluorescent green stuff, but I felt they thought I was exaggerating,’ she told the Courier Mail.
‘Due to my sport, I have a very high pain threshold but this was horrific.
‘One of the nurses said, “you should be grateful you’ve got Covid, there are people in here with influenza A worse than you”.’
Kristy’s mother Pamela Appleton, 51, said she and her daughter were ‘shot down’ every time they tried to speak with one of the doctors saying ‘he had the charts’ and so ‘knew what he was talking about’.
One thing that might have fooled the Princess Alexandra staff is that Kristy did not present with a reddish-purple rash, which is telltale sign for meningococcal.
She was later told the reason the rash did not immediately appear is because the bacterial disease, which is fatal in 10 per cent of cases and maims a third of sufferers, was only in the brain and not yet causing sepsis in the blood.
Kristy was discharged at 4.36am on Friday, 12 hours after entering the Princess Alexandra Hospital, and told to take paracetamol while resting for a few days to make a full recovery.
However, once back at home Kristy’s condition rapidly worsened and by lunchtime she was having bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea every 15 minutes.
Mrs Appleton got some medication prescribed over the phone by a medical centre but it did not help.
By 4pm Mrs Appleton started to think she should take Kristy to Mater Private, but her daughter seemed too exhausted to be moved.
Adding to tiredness was the jetlag Mrs Appleton and Kristy were experiencing after returning that week from Canada, where the teenager won the Girls Overall Champion in the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation’s under-17 title.
The mother said she felt ‘guilty’ for wanting to catch up on some sleep and not making the hospital dash that afternoon.
Mrs Appleton’s eventual rest was terrifyingly interrupted when Kristy woke up around midnight screaming.
She couldn’t tolerate anyone touching her and had become acutely sensitive to bright light.
The family rang for an ambulance and when paramedics arrived they insisted on taking Kristy to Mater Private and Mrs Appleton consented.
Mrs Appleton said the contrast between the private and public hospital was ‘chalk and cheese’.
She said the Mater doctor immediately recognised the seriousness of Kristy’s conditions and actually listened to what was being said to him.
The doctor told Mrs Appleton not to be alarmed but he was going to treat the mystery illness like bacterial meningitis and needed to act fast by giving her antibiotics.
Scans were done as well as a lumbar puncture and blood cultures.
Around 5am on Saturday morning Mrs Appleton saw a purple mark on Kristy’s neck.
At 7am an infectious diseases specialist confirmed Kristy had meningococcal.
The specialist told Mrs Appleton without the urgent doses of antibiotics, Kristy could have been ‘dead within an hour’.
Kristy had been vaccinated against the A, C, W and Y strains of meningococcal but not B, which may have been picked up in Canada.
Although Kristy is still battling lethargy and has hearing problems ,she is expected to make a full recovery and has been cleared to return to school on Monday.
Mrs Appleton has called for greater awareness of meningococcal disease and for the state government to raise the free vaccination age to 25.
Princess Alexandra Hospital executive director Dr Jeremy Wellwood told Daily Mail on Saturday that when ‘a patient comes to hospital, they are assessed based on the symptoms they present with and are treated accordingly’.
‘We wish Kristy all the best for a speedy recovery,’ Dr Wellwood said.
‘We thank the family for raising their concerns and are currently reviewing the care provided.
‘It is important for patients and families to raise any feedback and concerns so that it can be reviewed to determine if there were any opportunities to improve.’
Meningococcal disease is a contagious disease caused by a bacterium called Neisseria meningitidis (also known as meningococcal bacteria). It can develop quickly, and it can be fatal. Anyone with a suspected meningococcal infection needs to see a doctor immediately.
Meningococcal disease is a medical emergency. It can kill within hours, so early diagnosis and treatment is vital. Do not wait for the purple rash to appear as that is a late stage of the disease.
The main symptoms of meningococcal disease are:
In babies and young children, you might notice they:
The signs and symptoms do not appear in a definite order and some may not appear at all.
Source: Health Direct