Saul was 17 and on a school trip when he first started feeling cold and experiencing sensitivity to light, but when a purple rash developed, the family went to A&E.
“It all happened very fast,” said Saul.
“When my mum used the word meningitis, I could see how worried she was. It was really concerning – it was all so alien to us.”
Saul spent a week in hospital and said the experience was “really scary”, especially as he was so young.
Almost exactly a year later, his then 16-year-old brother Drew began to feel unwell as he was studying for his GCSEs with a high temperature but no other obvious symptoms.
Things escalated quickly following a trip to the GP.
“When I left the house I had no rashes on me at all. When the doctor lifted up my top, I had a big rash all over my chest and belly,” he said, adding that purple dots on the roof of his mouth had also developed.
Drew spent two weeks on the children’s ward at Wrexham Maelor hospital.
“I did think it’s a bit weird isn’t it really that we’ve both caught it, what are the odds of that?” said Saul.
It was touch and go for the first 48 hours before Drew slowly began to recover, but he lost a lot of weight and it would be months before he felt completely well.
“I’m really thankful the doctor called the ambulance straight away when he noticed the rash – those quick decisions potentially saved our lives,” said Drew.