Family and friends of a West Cumbrian 18-year-old who died after contracting bacterial meningitis, have spent the last year raising funds and awareness.
Lloyd Sutton died last October and since his death, his family began to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of meningitis to help others.
This year, they have raised a phenomenal amount of money for the Meningitis Now charity and the intensive care unit at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
They are aiming to climb all 214 Wainwrights in Lloyd’s memory and are expecting up to 100 people to join them for the last walk on Latrigg on October 12.
Bacterial meningitis is a more rare and serious form of meningitis which is an infection and inflammation of the fluid and protective membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord.
Lloyd, of West Cumbria, was found unresponsive in his room by his parents Louise and Tony one Thursday morning last October. His alarm was going off but he hadn’t turned it off.
Louise and Tony found Lloyd on the floor and called an ambulance. He was rushed to the West Cumberland Hospital with suspected meningitis and put into an induced coma.
A scan confirmed severe swelling on the brain and his parents were told that afternoon that he had just a 10 per cent chance of survival. If he did survive he would likely be severely brain damaged.
Tony said: “He was unlucky. His symptoms had flared up during the night and had it been during the day at work then he could have been treated a lot quicker and the outcome could have been very different.
Lloyd was pronounced dead on the Saturday following brain stem tests, with his devastated family all around him. He never regained consciousness.
“We had so much support from people in the weeks following,” said Louise.
A fundraising page was set up on Much Loved straightaway and £2,000 was collected at the funeral.
Tony said: “On the original page there has been £19,500 raised to date. £4,000 of this went to the intensive care unit and the remainder to Meningitis Now.
“To date, we have also raised £17,000 on the Walk for Lloyd Just Giving page, so in total, £32,500 has been raised for Meningitis Now. I know for sure that at least another £5,000 will go on the Walk for Lloyd page by the end of the year.”
The family continue to fundraise and are now tackling all of the Wainwrights.
“Walking keeps us going,” said Louise. “Each week I look forward to what the weekend walk will bring and where we will be going. I don’t know what I would have done without the walks. It has helped me to stop my mind from wandering to bad places.”
Tony said: “So far we have completed 211 of the fells. We are doing two this weekend and the final one on 12th October. We are expecting up to 100 people joining us for the last one on Latrigg fell.”
Tony and Louise remain in regular contact with Meningitis Now and this year met other families in a similar position to themselves.
AJ, one of the eight organisers of the weekend walks, said: “Lloyd was a very important person in a lot of people’s lives who had the pleasure of knowing him and sharing many happy memories and laughs with him. He always knew how to put a smile on people’s faces.
“To us he was someone we could call a best friend and we have done for many years now, some of us growing up with him since nursery at Beckstone Primary School and some of us meeting him in secondary school at Workington Academy.
“We are all thankful to have been able to call Lloyd a best friend and had the honour of sharing many funny and joyful memories with him and him always being there for us.
“Now we want to raise as much money for Meningitis Now as we can and to spread awareness about this disease along the way.”
Visit the fundraising page here.
