5-year-old boy dies after family mistook symptoms of rare disease for stomach bug

A five-year-old boy sadly passed away after his symptoms were thought to have been a ‘stomach bug’ but turned out to be a deadly condition.

Jude Platts, died 24 hours after being diagnosed with an illness which has impacted 300,000 people in the UK since 2021.

But Jude, who was born with a rare chromosome disorder, called microdeletion 16p11.2, which affected his ability to walk and talk, had symptoms that even led doctors to initially believe something else was wrong before the truth was revealed.

It happened over the Christmas period in December 2025, when Jude began to throw up until the early hours, but didn’t have a temperature – typical of an upset stomach.

However, soon after, he had a seizure and was rushed to hospital where doctors saw that the left-hand side of his body was paralysed.

Jude Platts began throwing up at the family home (SWNS)

Because of this symptom, they had considered a stroke, until an MRI sadly confirmed Jude had developed streptococcal pneumonia meningitis.

By the time he was diagnosed, Jude had stopped breathing, and was admitted to resus, where he was put in a medically induced coma.

With an inflamed brain known as encephalitis, it became clear that Jude had developed a viral or bacterial infection that was causing chaos in his poor body.

At 4am, doctors told his older brother Adam and his parents Sasha, and Nathaniel, that he had just a 5 per cent chance of survival.

“They said they’d never seen an infection affect the brain so quickly and aggressively,” Adam said.

Jude’s condition impacted the protective membranes (meninges) surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and while doctors tried to treat him, they revealed to the family that he was showing no brain activity – leading them to make the difficult decision to turn off life support on New Year’s Eve.

Sadly, streptococcal pneumonia meningitis took his life (Getty Stock Images)

He added: “Later that day, we received the worst news ever, that there was no brain activity at all from Jude. We made the decision to turn off life support, and he passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family. It was heart-breaking, Jude was so special to all of us.”

Now, the family are raising funds via a GoFundMe to give Jude the best send off possible, with Adam, 25, saying: “We don’t want a generic gravestone, we want to go all out, and make sure he is remembered.”

Speaking of how special Jude was to the family, he said: “Jude had an infectious personality, he could light up any room, he was always happy, never sad.

“He’s always been a fighter, he broke down every obstacle in his way.”