Marissa lost her son in 2023
07:34, 19 Mar 2026Updated 07:58, 19 Mar 2026
Alfie Mullans
A mum who lost her teenage son to meningitis b is calling on the government to provide vaccinations to young people after a UK outbreak left two dead. Alfie Mullans died of meningococcal disease in 2023.
The 18-year-old was one of two students from Bury College who died after contracting the disease. His family confirmed that Alfie was fully vaccinated at the time.
Years after his death, his mother, Marissa Mullans, has been campaigning for the government to inform parents about the vaccinations and to people born before 2015.
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In the UK, young people born before 2015 are not protected, unless they had the vaccination privately.
Recently, two students have died, and more are in hospital as a result of a meningitis outbreak in Kent.
The deaths have prompted a surge in demand for vaccines at pharmacies across the nation. Investigations by the UK Health Security Agency have now confirmed that some of the cases are caused by the meningitis B strain of bacteria, also known as MenB.
This is rarer than viral meningitis but far more serious, and can lead to blood poisoning or sepsis, and affect the brain. In some cases, it can be fatal. It is a strain most people are not vaccinated against.
Marissa and Alfie Mullans
“It broke on Mothers Day and took me straight back to losing my son to meningitis B,” Marissa told the M.E.N. “My heart broke for the families that are now starting this journey that I’m on.
“No parent should ever have to experience that, it just brought everything back. I felt like It was back when I lost Alfie.”
Over the years, Marissa has been sharing a petition where she has obtained over 40k signatures calling for politicians to act. Frustrated, she said that the government has not taken the issue “as seriously as it should be”.
She said: “Mass vaccinating in Kent is a reactionary measure.”
“What we need to do is one that’s proactive and stops outbreaks like this from happening.
“Science is a wonderful thing and there’s a licenced medication there and it’s not been given to a group of young people born before 2015.
“They are young people who we know are high risk for meningitis B. It’s soul destroying.
“All these young people losing their lives deserve to be protected and our government is failing them.
“I know that vaccines aren’t failproof, I know that they’re not going to give 100c protection. But I would rather my son had an extra layer of protection against meningitis B.”
Alfie was on a barbering course at Bury College and had hopes of joining the military.
Paying tribute to her son, Marissa said: “He was a beautiful person with a bright future in front of him. He would do anything for anybody and had loads of friends.”
Marissa Mullans and her son, Alfie
On June 8, 2023, Alfie came home from college complaining of a headache and tiredness. He slept through that night, his mother regularly checking up on him with water and medicine.
Alfie’s health did not improve the following morning. He still complained of the headache and feelings of lethargy.
Marissa, from Prestwich, agreed to give him a day off college. Worried for her son, she asked her husband to have a look at Alfie and he pointed out a mark on Alfie’s chest the size of a “five pence piece”.
Marissa quickly called a family member who was a paramedic for a professional opinion. It was this family member who told her to take Alfie to the hospital as soon as possible with fears that he might have contracted meningitis B.
The family rushed Alfie to their local hospital. “I looked back at Alfie in the car and he was purple from head to toe,” Marissa said.
Unable to support himself, Alfie was placed in a wheelchair where he was hurried into A+E. Tests were carried out and it was confirmed that he had meningitis B and sepsis.
He was then taken to the resuscitation unit. “We kind of stood there just watching this nightmare unfold,” Marissa recalled.
“From seeing my son 20 minutes before, with a five pence piece mark on his chest, which could have been anything. To then seeing how gravely ill Alfie was.
“They were trying to put Alfie into an induced coma which is the procedure for someone who’s got meningitis. While they were trying to ventilate Alfie, his heart stopped.
“I stood there with my husband watching for what felt like an eternity. People working on Alfie, trying to revive his heart.
“I remember just standing there, I knew they were going to call time. I just begged them not to stop.
“But they called time on Alfie.”
You can find Marissa’s petition here.
