PARENTS of a Greenock tot faced their worst nightmare when their precious son was suddenly left fighting for his life.
Little Leyton Story had been a healthy and happy baby who never suffered from as much as a cold.
But within a matter of hours of becoming unwell for the first time, he was battling for his life after developing meningitis.
Against all the odds, the 11-month-old pulled through thanks to the quick-thinking nurses and doctors at both the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.
His parents, Kirsty Story, 38, and her partner Richard Cairns, 42, of Stromness Place, today relived their ordeal in an effort to raise awareness of the infection and save more lives.
Kirsty, who works as a store supervisor at B&M in Greenock, said: “My family and I went through every parent’s worst fear.
“It was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced in my life.
“Twice we thought we were going to lose him.
“We’ve decided to share our story to raise awareness of meningitis and to encourage people to go to the doctor and get checked and not leave anything to chance.”
The couple’s ordeal began on September 27 when Leyton became unwell.
Kirsty said: “Leyton had never had a bug and never had a cold.
“He had been round at my sister’s and was playing fine but when I brought him home at about 8pm he was awfully tired and he vomited.
“He also had a really high temperature at 39.1.
“I didn’t really bother because I thought he had just eaten too much, as my sister had been giving him chocolate buttons.”
Kirsty decided to give her son paracetamol but he was sick again and developed a rash, and alarm bells started to ring.
She said: “The rash looked like big massive heat spots, big circles and I thought it was his temperature.
“Because I couldn’t get his temperature down I decided to take him to the out of hours doctors at Greenock Health Centre at about 10pm.
“The doctor checked him thoroughly and got his temperature down.
“He thought it was viral and told me to keep an eye on him.
“Leyton didn’t have any of the symptoms that he developed later on so the doctor didn’t do anything wrong.”
Later that night, Kirsty fed Leyton and he went to bed but the next day his mum soon realised that her beautiful baby boy was still unwell.
She said: “At 9.10am I had to wake Leyton up, which was not like him.
“He’s usually up with his big brother Liam who goes to school.”
Once Kirsty brought Leyton downstairs she spotted more worrying signs.
She said: “I noticed that he had a purple red rash on his feet.
“It was a totally different rash to the one he had the night before.
“So I did the glass test and the rash didn’t disappear.”
Kirsty immediately phoned her sister Lynne Jordan, who lives nearby, and they took him to the doctor.
She said: “He checked over Leyton and said he wasn’t 100 per cent sure what it was but said he was going to send him to the Royal Alexandra Hospital.”
Once Leyton arrived at the RAH the doctors and nurses checked him over and also took blood tests but his condition deteriorated at a frightening speed.
Kirsty said: “Leyton was taken for a test at 11.30am that morning and by 11.45am he was fighting for his life.
“He was non-reactive and unresponsive.
“I had gone to get Richard then my sister came running out and said something was seriously wrong and that the doctors were asking for me.
“I hit the deck.”
Luckily the doctors had treated Leyton so quickly that he pulled through.
Kirsty said: “When I went into the room to see him, the doctors had worked so quickly that he had started crying and kicking and they pumped him with antibiotics and adrenalin.”
But little Leyton was so seriously ill that he had to be put into an induced coma before being transferred to the critical care unit at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.
Worse was then to come for the family.
Richard, who is a former army medic, said: “He stopped breathing when they took him off the ventilator.
“But he’s a soldier, and he never stopped fighting and the staff helped him fight the whole way through.”
Kirsty added: “The doctors and nurses were amazing — they stabilised him within a minute.
“They saved his life.”
Little Leyton fought on and slowly but surely improved.
Kirsty said: “After he stopped breathing he fought his way through and he stabilised before being moved to the intensive care unit.”
Doctors established that Leyton had meningococcal meningitis — a bacterial form of the deadly infection.
He spent a week in hospital before being discharged last Wednesday.
His parents say they are still struggling to get their heads around what has happened, and their son’s rapid recovery.
Kirsty said: “It has been an emotional rollercoaster.
“He went from fighting for his life to running around in his baby walker.
“The doctors say he’s done so well to get through it so quickly.”
She added: “If the doctors and nurses hadn’t acted so quickly then it could have been a whole different situation.”
Richard is equally as proud of his baby boy.
He said: “Leyton’s been through more than most adults will go through in their entire life.
“Some people sometimes slag off the NHS but they saved Leyton’s life.
“They got his treatment spot on.”
The couple are now planning to hold a charity night to thank both hospitals and to raise awareness about meningitis.
Kirsty and Richard are keen to thank all their family and friends for being so supportive during such a distressing time.
She added: “I want to thank everyone, especially my sister Lynne and my two nieces Amyleigh and Shannon Smith.
“Leyton’s brother Liam and his cousin Kyle were also such a great help.
“I also want to thank the Tontine Hotel as my sister was due to have her wedding reception there and had to cancel it because Leyton was in hospital.
“They’ve been great and have let her hold it on another night.”
Leyton is now recovering at home and will still have to undergo further tests to see if the disease has impacted upon his hearing and sight.
l Symptoms of meningitis can develop suddenly and can include a fever, cold hands and feet, vomiting, a high temperature, headache, a blotchy rash that doesn’t fade when a glass is rolled over it, a stiff neck, a dislike of bright lights, drowsiness or unresponsiveness and seizures. 
Any parent who is concerned their child may have meningitis should get urgent medical advice immediately.