'My unvaccinated baby nearly died after catching measles' - mum's urgent call to parents

A mum whose baby boy almost died after catching measles has made a plea to others not to take a chance with their child. Sophie Dale was concerned about getting son Levi vaccinated after seeing posts on TikTok and Facebook which wrongly linked the vaccination to debunked autism risks.

But after deciding to go ahead and give him the vital jab the then 11-month-old was days away from his appointment when he fell ill with measles. He appeared to have recovered but then things took a turn for the worse leaving him fighting for his life in hospital after suffering several seizures and developing a severe case of sepsis.

Levi pulled through and is now a "thriving" six-year-old. But Sophie is urging parents to get their children vaccinated to keep their children safe.

The 28-year-old, who now also has a one-year-old daughter, Winnie, told how her son's health plummeted the the day before his first birthday party in November 2018. Sophie was out buying ingredients for his cake when she got a call to say he had taken a turn.

She said: "I rushed home and his temperature was crazy. When we arrived at the hospital a team of what looked like 20 people took him away.

"It was so scary - I remember thinking 'this is what you see on 24 Hours in A&E'. I couldn't watch but I could hear his screams."

After six days in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury he was allowed to go home, but had a year of follow-up checks to test for hearing or vision damage. Sophie said: "I didn't realise how serious it was at the time.

"But I was told the measles had basically destroyed his immune system, and he developed sepsis while fighting it. By the grace of God he is now a-ok but sometimes I look back at the hospital pictures and I can't believe it."

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