The family of a student who tragically died a matter of days after getting what he thought was 'fresher's flu' has issued a grave warning to young adults not to dismiss illnesses.
Lucas Martin, of England, had recently graduated from the University of Liverpool with a degree in international business when he passed away less than a week after he started feeling unwell.
His brother, Connor, is now urging young people to take symptoms seriously, after the family mistook Lucas’ fever and headaches for the common illnesses students often get around the start of term - described as 'fresher's flu' in the UK.
Connor, a software engineer, explained: "He had no distinct signs of any illness. He became poorly a week or so before he was admitted to hospital and we all thought it was the equivalent of freshers flu.
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“He was up in his room a lot of the time and we weren’t monitoring him on a super close basis unfortunately. We, and he, just assumed he had a bad bout of the flu.
"He would go up and down and we’d think he was on the mend, and then he’d regress again - but never to a point where we were seriously concerned.”
Unbeknown to the 21-year-old and his family, he had contracted meningitis - a life-threatening disease that causes inflammation around the brain.
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Lucas didn’t display some of the classic signs of meningitis, like a rash or sensitivity to light, which made it even harder to spot.
“He just had flu-like symptoms,” his 29-year-old brother added.
Lucas had been spending the summer at his family home on the Isle of Man, taking on part-time jobs and figuring out his next steps.
Connor believes his younger brother’s busy lifestyle might have played a part in how it all started: “He was working hard so whether that contributed to it at all, I don’t know.”
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After five days of feeling sick, Lucas’ dad, Brett, called him and noticed something wasn’t right - that he was 'mumbling and not making sense'.
With Connor in Birmingham and their parents visiting Lucas' brother in Edinburgh, his uncle went to check in - and found Lucas in an 'awful state'.
He was rushed to hospital, diagnosed with meningitis, and placed in an induced coma.
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Heartbreakingly, Lucas never regained consciousness, and was pronounced dead on September 12, 2023.
“We describe him as a force of nature,” Connor said. “He was very entrepreneurial... just a very driven, personable young man. He was taken too soon.”
Connor hopes his brother’s story serves as a warning to others.
“If you're worried, take action. Don’t just dismiss it as flu. We work hard not to blame ourselves - we just didn’t think of it," he added.
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You can read more about Lucas' story and support the charity set up in his name here: Looky's Aid
Joe Yates