The last time Jacqui Dell saw her son Rylan Gold was on his 18th birthday – a moment that now lives painfully clear in her memory. They spent the afternoon and evening of February 8 together, celebrating the milestone.
“He had a job and a girlfriend and was just a teenager loving life,” Jacqui says.
Just weeks later, the Buderim mother was holding her son in her arms in a hospital room, saying goodbye.
Rylan died on March 5 after contracting meningococcal meningitis – a rare but aggressive infection that progressed with devastating speed.
“It was so rare and it was so random and it came so fast – it’s just hard to comprehend,” Jacqui says.
Jacqui says she had been planning to see her son again shortly after his birthday to give him a special gift.
“I’d had a pendant made for his 18th birthday with my grandmother’s ashes in it and I was going to give him the chain for it,” she says.
“But he couldn’t come because he wasn’t feeling well.”
Jacqui was told her son had been vomiting, had a severe headache and developed a rash before he was taken to Caloundra Hospital on March 2 by a relative who is a paramedic.
He was discharged about 1.30pm that day and returned home with his stepsister.
But within hours, his condition deteriorated rapidly.
An ambulance was called about 4.30pm as Rylan became extremely unwell.
“I got a call from Rylan’s stepsister on Rylan’s phone while I was driving home from work,” Jacqui says.
“She said, ‘I don’t want you to worry but Rylan’s been sick over the weekend and he’s gotten worse.
“I’ve called the ambulance and they’re here and they’re taking him to hospital’.”
Rylan was taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital, where he was placed on life support but never regained consciousness.
A Sunshine Coast Health spokesperson says the service extended its condolences to the family and confirmed the care provided would be reviewed.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to the impacted family at this difficult time,” the spokesperson says.
“Sunshine Coast Health protects the privacy and confidentiality of patients and won’t provide further information on individual circumstances of care.
“The care provided will be independently reviewed to identify any opportunities to strengthen practice.”
During Rylan’s final days in hospital, the difficult decision was made to donate his organs, helping to save the lives of four other people.
Jacqui says she hoped sharing her son’s story would raise awareness about how quickly meningococcal disease can strike: “I just hope no other parent ever has to have that call.”
