Father of Liverpool student who died of meningitis ‘tried to warn universities of the dangers’

The family of a Liverpool John Moores University student are campaigning for increased awareness of meningitis symptoms after unexpectedly losing their son to the infection earlier this year.

Aaron Mills, a first year sport and science student, died on January 3rd after contracting the Meningitis B strain.

His father has since said if he had received “some simple information” about the infection, “he’d still be here”.

Aaron had returned to his family home in Kidderminster over Christmas with cold symptoms and a headache he believed to be another bout of Freshers’ Flu.

After watching a film with his parents and 16-year-old sister, he’d gone to bed.

via Facebook

But on the morning of December 30th, the student suffered from a seizure. Aaron woke up with a headache, took some paracetamol, and went back to sleep.

His father, Anthony Mills, found his son unresponsive in bed half an hour later.

The John Moores student was rushed to Worcester Royal Hospital and later University Hospital Coventry, where neurosurgeons tried to remove fluid from his brain but couldn’t stop him from succumbing to the illness.

Aaron Mills sadly lost his life to meningitis four days later.

via Google Maps

His family later learned their son had contracted meningitis during his first semester at university. They had never heard of the variant until their son was diagnosed in hospital.

His mother and father are now campaigning for more awareness around meningitis, including spreading information on the causes and symptoms of the infection.

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This occurs in the wake of a serious meningitis outbreak in Kent, where a university student and sixth form pupil have already lost their lives. There are around 20 more confirmed cases in the Canterbury area, with more being investigated.

His father, Anthony Mills, had contacted the University of Kent two weeks before the outbreak, urging them to ensure students remain vigilant and aware of the risks of contracting the infection.

He claims he “tried to warn universities of the dangers” was ultimately ignored.

Anthony said: “Somebody messaged my wife to say there had been two deaths in Canterbury – and I just thought ‘well, I emailed them (Kent University) a couple of weeks ago”.

Anthony said he knows “exactly” how the affected families feel, saying that meningitis “turns your world upside down”.

He added: “Aaron had spent a couple of months at university. You could see he was turning into a beautiful man with all his dreams ahead of him, and that was just ripped away from us”.

Since the death of their son, Aaron’s family have contacted UK universities in order to encourage the spread of important information.

His father has even reached out to 650 MPs across the country to demand a government-led rollout for the meningitis vaccination.

“They need to make it more accessible, it’s quite expensive at the moment. It’s frustrating” he said.

He continued: “You still wake up, and you can’t believe that you haven’t got a son anymore. It’s crushing at times. You can’t breathe.

“If something positive comes out of it, I’ll be a little more at peace”.

Following news of the outbreak, Liverpool John Moores University had recently shared information with students on the signs and symptoms of meningitis, urging young people to check their vaccination histories and stay alert.