In April 2023, 68-year-old Margaret McMahon started to feel a little unwell but brushed it off to simply being rundown. 

It was last winter, and Harper had the sniffles and a cough. Karl and I assumed she just had a bit of a cold. But within hours, she became very sick. 

Born six weeks early, Chloe and Macie were healthy newborns, and we were happy parents. Five weeks later, our world turned upside down.  

In the winter of 2016, just 18 months after our four-week-old baby boy had died from the complications of whooping cough, my husband and I confronted the realities of RSV when three-week old Lucy was rushed to hospital.

My gorgeous boy was born with cystic fibrosis, so it goes without saying that he has needed a little more medical attention than the average child. 

I knew something was very wrong with our little man. Something that started out like a cold was turning pretty nasty. He wasn’t eating or drinking; he was vomiting and really limp in my arms. My maternal alarm was screaming. 

Hazel was around two months old when I put her to bed, noticing she was a little congested. When she woke up, it was clear something was very wrong. 

My two-year-old was the first to get sick, quickly followed by me, and then little Henry who was only seven weeks old.  

In July 2011, when Declan was a little over two months old, his Mum, Samantha, was admitted to hospital where she later learned she had Swine Flu (H1N1), a strain of influenza virus. She had developed pneumonia and both lungs collapsed. She was in the fight of her life when she was told that an ambulance had been called for Declan.

At fifteen days old, Amie was a healthy baby. The next day she was sleepy and not feeding well. Overnight she developed a runny nose. Amie’s Mum was concerned and took her to the GP who recommended an X-Ray and check-up at Prince of Wales Hospital, in Sydney. To her parent’s surprise, Amie was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Tahlea’s life changed forever when, at six months old, she narrowly survived Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) or ‘meningococcal’. For Tahlea and other Aboriginal children, the incidence of meningococcal is forty times higher than for other children in Australia.

Measles can affect nine out of ten people exposed to the virus, if not immune. Laine was too young to be vaccinated when she got the measles at ten months old. She survived, but at seven years of age she complained to her Mum, Cecily, she felt ‘dumb’ and was having trouble following instructions. Cecily was worried. Weeks later Laine was diagnosed with Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE) as a complication of Laine’s measles.

In 2012, Melanie and Sean’s daughter, Mylee, was a healthy fifteen-month-old baby. When she went to bed, after her busy day at day care, she smiled at Sean and went to sleep. When they tried to wake her the next morning, she was unresponsive. Despite CPR and emergency services intervention, Mylee passed away.

Mabel had a great day exploring her new swing at her Brisbane home. She was six months old and Mum, Carly, had ensured Mabel was up to date with all recommended vaccinations. Later that night she vomited several times. In the morning Carly took her to the Queensland Children’s Hospital. After another unsettled night, tests confirmed, Mabel had pneumococcal meningitis.

Pneumococcal is a vaccine preventable disease.

Lily narrowly survived but lost her kidneys and adrenal glands. After nine months on dialysis, she received a kidney donation from her sister, Grace. Today, she is a strong voice for immunisation and organ donation and wants all adults to protect against vaccine preventable diseases.

Meningococcal is a vaccine preventable disease.

Identical twins Gabrielle and Jasmine were delivered on Christmas Eve 2002. Their long term survival was questionable from day one.

My daughter was just 3 weeks old when she had a runny nose and sneeze, with mildly not wanting feeds as much.

On Tuesday 25th August Jazmyn was a bright bubbly happy little girl, but at 10pm that night things took a turn in a direction that no one could have seen coming.

In September 2015, my 5 month old Fern had a cold. We went to the doctors a few times within a 3 week period and I was told she had asthma, then bronchitis.

Riley Hughes was born a gorgeous and healthy baby boy on February 13th, 2015. He was our second child and we were so delighted to have him in our family.