update on Lauren Sandell age 18

Lauren Sandell, of Woodford Green, passed away from group W meningococcal septicaemia (MenW) just after starting university.

Daily Mail wrote:
Student, 18, who died from a deadly strain of meningitis after her school and GP didn't give her the vaccination that could have saved her was 'fit and healthy football fan', inquest hears

   Lauren Sandell, 18, from Essex, died from meningococcal W meningitis in 2016
   It is a highly aggressive form of the disease that is common among students
   She had started a course at Bournemouth University two weeks before she died
   Her school was vaccinating younger stududents

A teenage student who died from a deadly strain of meningitis after her school and GP practice didn't give her a vaccination that could have saved her was a 'fit and healthy' football fan, an inquest has heard.

Lauren Sandell, 18, died from meningococcal W meningitis, an aggressive strain of the disease, in October 2016 - just two weeks into her sports psychology and coaching sciences at Bournemouth University.

Days before her death, she had returned to her home in Woodford Green, Essex, feeling unwell and stressed because she wasn't sure if she would enjoy her university course.

She was able to go for a five-mile run in the week before her death, but she had been suffering from days of headaches, vomiting and fatigue, which her mother attributed to stress.

Her mother Sharon Sandell told the inquest that in the hours before she died, her daughter complained of blurry eyes and breathlessness and her skin also appeared 'mottled'.

Miss Sandell was in her mother's bed discussing the possibility of transferring to a university in London when she suddenly began hyperventilating, Walthamstow Coroner's Court in East London heard.

Paramedics arrived within minutes, but were unable to revive her.

Miss Sandell was a fit and active student who enjoyed football and running, her inquest heard on Thursday.

The inquest also heard that her GP surgery hadn't sent out messages about vaccinations for nearly a year before her death.

Miss Sandell, who turned 18 in January 2016, was not informed about the vaccine because a practice nurse in charge of sending out text messages to teenagers hadn't updated the system since November 2015.

The student had visited her GP in May and August 2016, but was not told about the vaccination.

She was able to go for a five-mile run in the week before her death, but she had been suffering from days of headaches, vomiting and fatigue, which her mother attributed to stress.   in the hours before she died, her daughter complained of blurry eyes and breathlessness and her skin also appeared 'mottled'.

Miss Sandell was in her mother's bed discussing the possibility of transferring to a university in London when she suddenly began hyperventilating, Walthamstow Coroner's Court in East London heard.

Paramedics arrived within minutes, but were unable to revive her.

Miss Sandell was a fit and active student who enjoyed football and running

And I felt terrible that she didn't get it and the poor girl is dead now.'

Mrs Sandell told the inquest that she had been in contact with her daughter every day during her first two weeks at university.

Around a week after she arrived, she told her mother she was feeling unwell and after being sick several times, the teenager believed she had food poisoning.

In the early hours of the October 1, Miss Sandell's boyfriend Harry called Mrs Sandell because her daughter was shaking in bed.

'I told him to give her a cup of tea and a biscuit because I thought she had low blood sugar related to stress,' Mrs Sandell said.

'I thought she might also have food poisoning as she mentioned. I got a text back later to say she had stopped shaking and was OK and had gone to sleep.

'They slept in until 12.30 the next day and I thought it was odd as she normally wakes up earlier than that.'

They returned to Essex the following day for a weekend at home – and Miss Sandell was said to be complaining of feeling cold and nauseous.

She also said her legs ached and she was unable to stand on her feet for long.

'When her brother hugged her she winced and pulled back. But at the time I just thought it was her little brother annoying her,' Miss Sandell said.

'She seemed really quiet and tired and and kept closing her eyes.'

That Sunday, she began hyperventilating in bed and Mrs Sandell called her sister, who is a paramedic.

'She felt very cold. She said her stomach was hurting and I could feel she was cold. I gave her a hot water bottle,' Miss Sandell said.

'She got in bed with me and seemed very restless and got up to go to the toilet again. She sat on the floor and said her eyes were blurry.

'I thought it was stress. My husband picked her up and put her in bed with me. I was actually Googling London universities when she started hyperventilating.

'It's a bit of a blur, it was terrifying. I thought at the time she was having a panic attack.'

Her sister advised Mrs Sandell to call an ambulance after her daugher's eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

'I thought she was unconscious. She wasn't responding,' she said.

Mrs Sandell said: 'My other son Will was screaming for her to wake up.

'The police arrived and interviewed me downstairs in our living room. I just remember thinking: 'how can you die of a panic attack?'

Paying tribute to her daughter, she said. 'She was such an angelic wonderful person, people wanted to support us and remember her.

Lauren Sandell, 18, had been out for a five mile run just days before she died, her mum said.

Around a week after she arrived at Bournemouth, on September 29 2016, she told her mum she was feeling unwell.