Girl, 12, nearly died fighting for life after doctors misdiagnosed symptoms as the common cold, mother says

The 13-year-old girl had a runny nose and a headache for a week before her body temperature rose. Her mother stated that she is lucky to be alive after medical personnel dismissed her symptoms as a common cold before diagnosing her with a life-threatening disease. “My gut feeling was telling me this isn’t just a cold or virus. I had to push for a blood test and it came back with markers that would indicate an infection but we were discharged.” The mother said.

Harri Tuson, a 12-year-old girl, was taken to the hospital in June 2021 after suffering from a fever, runny nose, and headache for a week, according to an independent.

Unfortunately, despite a blood test indicating that the girl’s body was fighting something more serious, medical personnel at the local hospital told her parents that it was just a cold.

Toni Tuson, the child’s mother, told the Mirror that she had a feeling the doctors were wrong. However, after spending eight hours in the emergency room, the 38-year-old woman returned home with her daughter.

Later that night, the child reportedly had a seizure and was rushed back to the hospital, where scans revealed she had bacterial meningitis and deadly brain inflammation.

Harri was placed in an induced coma for one week and was given antibiotics. Harri was discharged from the hospital three weeks later, according to her mother. She had to use a wheelchair for two months and relearn how to walk.

The 38-year-old mother stated that she is now sharing her daughter’s story in order to encourage other parents to trust their instincts and to raise awareness about the infection.

During an interview with the Daily Mail, the 38-year-old woman reportedly said: “My gut feeling was telling me this isn’t just a cold or virus. I had to push for a blood test and it came back with markers that would indicate an infection but we were discharged.

In hindsight and the benefit of all the research I have since done, I shouldn’t have left. But we were there for eight hours and I was made to feel like a neurotic parent and that nothing was wrong, so I had to trust the doctor’s word and go home.”

At around 2 am, she woke up and walked to the bathroom. But, she didn’t return to her room. She was completely out of it and didn’t even know where she was. She was staring right through me and looked brain damaged. One pupil was bigger than the other and I later found out that this was a seizure. I was terrified.”

According to the girl’s mother, a CT scan revealed that Harri had a brain infection, and hospital doctors soon started treating her with antibiotics. She had meningitis, which is inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, according to an MRI scan.

According to the Mirror, doctors later informed the mother that her daughter had encephalitis, a possibly fatal complication in which the brain itself becomes inflamed.

The child’s mother, Toni Tuson, also said: “I was in shock as she didn’t have the symptoms I was familiar with. They said they would do everything possible to protect her brain but prepared us for the worst, saying some people don’t even wake up.

Harri started off with a cold but the sinus infection migrated towards her brain and festered in her sinuses. That is how she ended up with bacterial meningitis.”

The 38-year-old mother also stated that her daughter began to wake up on the sixth day of her coma. Unfortunately, the child was trying to scream but was unable to do so. Harri’s mother believed he was brain dead.

The child’s mother, Toni Tuson, also said: “She had no emotions and was unable to form a sentence. But thankfully, every day something more would move like her lips and eyes which gave us a little bit of hope. It took about three days for Harri to switch back on.”

The child spent three weeks in the hospital and another eight weeks struggling to walk and trying to regain strength. Her mother claims that she still struggles with balance.

Toni Tuson told the Daily Mail: “She shouldn’t have been sent home but thankfully when she arrived back at the hospital in the ambulance the doctors did an amazing job. She was just let down by the urgent care team in the hospital. Harri is doing super well. We are still in shock that it’s happened.”