This is whywe marched

The expert treatment which Callum Wingate received for meningitis at the hospital accident and emergency department has strengthened his family's commitment to campaign for its retention.

His grandmother, Ros Shawyer, said: 'My opinion is that the A&E staff there saved Callum's life. He had not been in the hospital for more than half-an-hour when a doctor told us we could lose him in the next 30 minutes.

'If Callum had had to be taken to Portsmouth or Worthing instead, his chances of survival would have been severely eroded. He could have lost some limbs, even if he had not died.

'I can't believe anyone would want to downgrade A&E at St Richard's. I am a Bognorian and all my family are. We have had to use that department on several occasions. It's a life saver. I don't care what anyone else says.

'The team there were fantastic and they worked very hard on Callum.'

Her husband Alan said: 'A whole gaggle of pen pushers want to close A&E at the hospital. Not only that, but apparently we will get a better service by travelling those extra miles.

'My message to them is simple. Don't take the public for idiots and stop pretending that this is not about money.'

Callum has allowed his story to be revealed by the Observer to help the efforts to keep A&E at St Richard's.

He was battling with the potentially-fatal meningococcal septicaemia as 14,000 people marched through Chichester last Saturday in support of the hospital.

His serious illness began last Tuesday afternoon. He complained of a severe headache to his sister Jade (18) while they spent the half-term afternoon in Bognor town centre.

Former Bognor Regis Community College student Callum, who has just started a media studies course at Chichester College, went to bed that night at home in Southdown Road with what appeared to be a bad dose of flu.

He was ill during the night and cried out for a drink at 6am last Wednesday. His mum, Alison, had been checking him regularly and spotted the tell-tale symptom of a purple rash on Callum's face and a leg when she switched on the light to speak to him.

She dialled 999 and paramedics transported Callum to St Richard's in under ten minutes. He was suffering from the most virulent form of the fast-moving disease.

Meningitis inflames the lining around the brain and the spinal cord. Septicaemia is the blood poisoning form of the disease. One in two people infected can die if a patient goes into shock before medical help is given.

However, the team at St Richard's stabilised Callum's condition to enable him to be transferred to Southampton General Hospital by lunchtime that day, where the staff praised the work of their Chichester colleagues.

Callum fought for his life in the Southampton hospital's intensive care unit until he began to emerge from his induced coma.

Doctors put him in the coma for five days to enable his body organs '“ such as heart, lungs and kidney '“ to continue to function because they are all affected by meningitis.

Callum was moved from the intensive care unit on Monday though he continues to need round the clock nursing.

Mrs Shawyer, of Hazel Road, said on Tuesday: 'He is still very ill but we are not going to lose him now. He has got a little bit of pneumonia and the meningitis has taken a lot out of his body.'

Hospital staff were carrying out extensive tests to discover if the meningitis would have any long-term impact, she said. The outcome of these tests would determine when a transfer back to St Richard's would be allowed before any thoughts of him returning home.