Barry Curran

On Monday 4th October 2010, I was working in Speke, near Liverpool and received a call from my wife Catherine to say that my 4 week old boy Callum had been rushed to hospital with meningitis.. . . . After a journey that seemed to take an eternity, I arrived at the hospital and I was given the news that Callum did have meningitis and that he was a very sick little boy.. . . . He was diagnosed with Strep B meningitis. Group B Streptococcus is just one of a number of bacteria which normally live in our bodies and carrying it is perfectly normal. This is the most common cause of severe infection in newborn babies in the UK. Pregnant women can transmit this to their newborns at birth. My wife Catherine had been diagnosed with Strep B at 20 weeks of her pregnancy. While she was treated with antibiotics and IV fluids during labour, Callum unfortunately still contracted the 'late-onset' Group B Streptococcus infection called meningitis.. . . . Callum has now made a full recovery, and to support the amazing work the doctors and nurses did at Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry I will be recreating the Mercy to Newry Dash from that agonising day.. . . . Total - 54 miles. . . . The money raised will be donated to the charity to promote the awareness of this terrible disease and just maybe a lot more mums and dads will become more aware of this both before and after birth.