CONCERNED mum Cara Mead is urging people to attend a meningitis awareness evening to help parents be better prepared to understand the symptons of the potentially deadly illness.

Mrs Mead, 32, did not recognise the signs when her three year-old son, Oliver, contracted meningitis two years ago.

He was left deaf in his left ear with limited hearing in his right ear. His one-year old sister, Emily survived a meningitis scare when she was born.

Mrs Mead of The Ridings, Kington St Michael, has organised the evening at the Neeld Hall, Chippenham, with speaker Fiona Green, a member of the Meningitis Research Foundation, to give parents the chance to ask questions.

Mrs Mead was sent home from Chippenham Hospital twice in one weekend after doctors diagnosed Oliver's symptoms as an ordinary virus.

But just days later he was unconscious and fighting for his life with pneumococcal meningitis.

Oliver wears a hearing aid in one ear and will need to be taught how to use a hearing loop when he starts school next September.

"My biggest fear is that Oliver will be alienated at school," Mrs Mead said.

"He will be going to the village school but when he is put into a classroom environment with lots of background noise he could lose most of his hearing."

Mrs Mead is worried because people are not well enough informed about meningitis. "They need to realise that you can't catch it from sharing cups and standing near someone," she said.

"The evening is so important because if we pass on the right message to parents hopefully they will educate their children.

"It's trying to get rid of this ignorance. Meningitis is not always contagious.

"Oliver is a child that is always up for anything and he doesn't realise that he's different from anybody else. We will help him through those times when he does realise he's a little bit different.

"He's very strong willed and confident which gets him through life."

Fiona Green from Devizes, lost her son George to meningitis five years ago. She will be giving an informative talk on her experience at the awareness evening.

Mrs Green lived in London at the time when George was sent home from hospital with a chest infection. He died from meningitis just before his third birthday.

Mrs Mead said: "Parents should be confident enough to bang on their doctor's door if they think their child has meningitis.

"This is what we want to get across at the meeting.

"Parents have to be made aware that children don't always get a rash, Oliver didn't, and that it's best to trust your intuition and take your child to the doctor straight away. Don't feel like you are making a fuss, just do it."

The parents of Lydia Cross, who had her legs amputated after doctors failed to diagnose meningitis, will also be at the awareness evening on November 3 at 7.30pm.

Anyone wishing to attend should contact Mrs Mead on 07790 057780.

As well as organising the event, Mrs Mead is planning a sponsored seven-day, 300-mile cycle ride around Wiltshire. She has invited friends and Gazette readers and of course Lydia to ride in a pod on the back of her bike to make it a real challenge.

She said: "I am planning to do it in during the February or May half term .

"I will be asking my friends and other Gazette readers to let me take their children for short rides to raise awareness of the threat of meningitis."

The proceeds collected from the ride will go towards the Gazette's Lydia appeal, which currently stands at over £40,000, and the Meningitis Research Foundation.