England Rugby Hero Matt Dawson Reveals He Nearly Lost His Toddler To Meningitis

Former England rugby star Matt Dawson has revealed his toddler, Sami, stayed in the hospital for two weeks after being struck by meningitis. Thus, he added to his page the hashtag #vaccinateNOW -- adding his support to growing calls for all kids to be given a meningitis vaccine.

On Wednesday, Feb. 17, the BBC Question of Sport star shared to Twitter a series of heartbreaking images of his child -- showing his young Sami on the road to recovery. But the 43-year-old admitted that he and his wife, Carolin Hauskeller had been debating whether to share the upsetting pics on social media. "Been umming and ahhhing about whether I should write the next post but my wife and I have agreed it's important," he admitted to Twitter. "The pic may be upsetting!!"

Nevertheless, both parents totally agreed that they can help in raising awareness about the potentially killer disease. Hence, Dawson, who has other son named Alex, posted a number of heartbreaking images of his little Sami. "The two weeks of hell we've just had cos of meningitis," Matt tweeted along with the nine photos -- showing Sami covered with red marks and wired up to machines in the hospital.

Dawson also praised the "amazing" people at Great Ormond Street Hospital for the support. Then, he posted another pic, showing that his son was gradually getting better while the other one was showing that Sami was being hugged by his older brother.

With the hope to save other families, Dawson then shared a link to a petition on the Government's website -- calling young children to be vaccinated against Meningitis B.

According to WHO, meningitis mainly affects young people between ages 1 to 30. Symptoms include high fever, sensitivity to light, headaches, vomiting and stiff neck. And if left untreated, the affected patient may suffer brain damage, hearing loss or could even lead to death. Thus, Dawson is calling other parents to have their young kids vaccinated against the said disease.