My name is Marrissa Mullans, and I am Alfie’s mum.
On 9th June 2023, my world changed forever when my beautiful son Alfie died from Meningococcal Group B disease. He was just 18 years old.
Alfie was everything and more a mum could wish for in a son. He was kind, funny, caring and fiercely loyal to the people he loved. He adored his family, his friends, rugby, and Manchester United. He had his whole life ahead of him, full of dreams, plans and endless potential. Instead, we were left planning his funeral and living in a world that lost his beautiful light.
One of the hardest part is knowing that a vaccine existed. While young people’s lives were being measured against cost-effectiveness calculations, families like mine are paying the ultimate price. No parent should ever have to wonder whether their child’s life might have been saved if different decisions had been made. It should never be a birthdate lottery where protection depends on when a young person happened to be born rather than their need for the vaccine.
In Alfie’s memory, I launched Alfie’s Legacy and a petition that has now been signed by more than 81,000 people. Every signature represents someone who believes that the value of a young person’s life cannot be reduced to a financial calculation. Every signature says that prevention should come before tragedy.
The recent UKHSA announcement to offer a MenB catch-up vaccination programme to young people is a hugely important and welcome step forward. It is proof that change is possible and that voices can make a difference. However, one year group alone is not enough. Meningitis does not discriminate by school year, and every young person deserves the same opportunity to be protected.
I cannot bring Alfie back. I cannot give him the future that was taken from him. But I will continue fighting in his name so that other families never have to experience the devastation that ours has endured.
Alfie was worth more than a cost-effectiveness calculation. Every young person is. That is why his legacy, and the campaign, must continue.
“For Alfie, and for every family who should never have to hear the words, ‘there was nothing more we could do.”
