Mum's 'obsessive' move that saved five-week-old son's life: 'Didn't know what it was'

Felicity Harley said she vividly remembers sitting in the back seat with her son Hugo as her husband rushed to the hospital.

Brianne Tolj
·Associate News Editor
Updated ·5-min read
Left, Felicity Harley with Hugo when he was a newborn in hospital with meningococcal. Right, Hugo now with his brother and sister and mum Felicity and dad Tom Harley.
Hugo was just five-weeks-old when he suddenly fell severely ill, forcing his mum and dad, Felicity and Tom Harley, to rush him to the hospital. Source: Supplied

It’s a moment she’ll “never forget”.

With her seriously ill five-week-old son Hugo being treated down the hall, a dazed and worried Felicity Harley briefly slipped into a room provided for parents at Sydney Children’s Hospital. After stepping into the shower, she glanced up to the ceiling and stared at a “hundreds and thousands pattern of colours”.

“I just remember looking up and thinking, wow, things do happen. Sometimes you think things will never happen to you, but they actually happened to you, and you have to pull yourself through it and deal with it,” the Body + Soul journalist and podcaster told Yahoo News Australia on Thursday.

Days earlier, Harley had been enjoying the Easter long weekend with her children and husband, former AFL player Tom Harley, when her world was turned upside down.

“The first sign was that [Hugo’s] temperature just kept rising really fast,” she recalled. “I became probably a bit obsessive and I was taking it every 10 minutes and it was just getting higher and higher.”

In the span of about an hour, the baby’s temperature reached 40C and Harley began to get the gut feeling something wasn’t right.

Hugo is pictured sitting on his dad Tom's lap next to his siblings and mum Felicity.
After days of tests it was revealed Hugo had contracted meningococcal B — a rare but potentially life-threatening bacterial infection. Source: Supplied

“He was getting quite pale and listless,” the author continued, describing the moment she told her husband while standing “in the lounge room covered in toys” that they needed to take Hugo to the hospital immediately.

“I still vividly remember driving my incredibly ill baby to the hospital and not knowing if he would live,” she said.

Although the couple initially believed their son was suffering from some sort of virus, they were not expecting what came next. Hospital staff quickly began treating Hugo with antibiotics and working their way through a list of possible causes and tests.

“There was about 48 hours where we just didn’t know what it was. This is pre-Covid days and doctors were coming in wearing hazmat suits, and that was quite upsetting and traumatising because we thought, wow, something’s seriously wrong here,” Harley told Yahoo.

Eventually, it was revealed Hugo had contracted invasive meningococcal B — a rare but potentially life-threatening bacterial infection. “I don’t think I ever put him down in bed,” said Harley, who now works to spread awareness about the disease and the early signs to watch for.

“I think I just held him for 48 hours and slept with him in my arms. Just clung to him and then I think it was probably about day four when he started getting more colour in his face. I still look into his eyes, and I can still see the eyes that I was looking into in the hospital on that day.”

Luckily, Hugo made a full recovery and was released from hospital a week later. He is now a healthy, “footy-mad” nine-year-old.

“The doctor said it’s because we acted so fast and got onto it so swiftly that he is with us today,” his relieved mum added.

Left, a healthy nine-year-old Hugo now. Right, Hugo grown up with him mum Felicity at a restaurant.
Thankfully, because of Felicity's quick-thinking Hugo is now a healthy nine-year-old. Source: Supplied

Given the recent meningococcal outbreak in Queensland — which left one five-month-old baby fighting for life in hospital — doctors are urging parents to be vigilant as more cases are expected in the coming weeks.

While infections can occur at any time of year, they typically peak in winter and early spring. According to the latest data from the National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Dashboard, there’s been 95 meningococcal cases in Australia so far this year. Children under the age of two and adolescents between 15 and 19 see the highest rates of infection.

Most people who become sick do survive but up to 1 in 5 may develop long-term disabilities including brain damage, deafness, loss of limbs and nervous system problems.

Globally, there are six bacteria strains which most commonly cause meningococcal, however a recent survey conducted by healthcare company GSK revealed only 19 per cent of Aussie parents who participated were aware of that fact. In Australia the most common are B, W and Y.

Speaking to Yahoo News, Dr Sam Hay said it’s important for people to be aware of all of the strains so they “can then have a more educated and detailed discussion with doctors about what protections you need and what are going to be the right vaccinations for you”.

Meningococcal disease symptoms, according to the Queensland Government.

Symptoms in babies

  • fever, hands and feet may also feel cold

  • refusing feeds or vomiting

  • high pitched moaning cry or whimpering

  • dislike of being handled, fretful

  • rash of red-purple spots or bruises that do not fade under pressure

  • blank and staring expression

  • bulging fontanelle

  • difficult to wake, lethargic

  • pale blotchy complexion

Symptoms in older children and adults

  • vomiting

  • fever

  • headache

  • stiff neck

  • dislike of bright lights

  • drowsiness

  • joint pain

  • rash of red-purple spots or bruises that do not fade under pressure

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