A BACUP mum who thought she would never bring her baby son home from hospital has raised over £1,000 for a meningitis charity by staging a family fun day.

Hannah Whiteman says she went through hell when Harrison, now one, was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis at four days old after he was born with covered in septic spots.

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She said: “One day he would be fine, the next day he would have a high temperature and be really ill.

“When he was four days old one of the midwives came running in and said Harrison had stopped breathing.

“He was rushed to the neo-natal intensive care unit and put on a ventilator. It was absolutely awful.”

Harrison underwent four platelet transfusions and three blood transfusions before Hannah and her partner Chris Ferguson were finally allowed to take him home.

It was only then, after an agonising three weeks, that he could meet his brother Leighton, four, and sister Holly, three for the first time.

Hannah, from Anderson Close, added: “I didn’t think I was going to bring him home.

“He spent 10 days in intensive care and I didn’t see my other two children for a week.”

Brave Harrison suffers a loss of hearing in his right ear and a slightly enlarged liver, which means he has regular hospital check-ups.

“Every time he gets a temperature I panic, fearing the worst,” said his mum.

“It has been a very tough time.”

Thankful that Harrison is on the road to recovery, Hannah organised a children’s fun day at Broadwater Hall on Bank Holiday Monday and was delighted with the response.

She said: “It started out six weeks ago as a ‘toddle waddle’ for local mums and kids, and it just grew from there.”

The event featured bouncy castles, face painting, 20 craft and food stalls, a tombola and a raffle, with prizes donated by local businesses.

There was even a fire engine for the kids to try out, Minnie and Mickey Mouse and characters from Disney’s Frozen posing for pictures.

“It was brilliant,” said Hannah.

“I haven’t finished counting the money, but there was over £1,000 raised for Meningitis Now.

“I’d like to thank everyone who supported the event, and a give special big thank you to Jane and Jim Doidge at the Broadwater Hall for letting me use the facilities.”