THE father of a Plymouth schoolboy rushed to hospital with a suspected case of meningitis today said: "We thought we had lost him."

Mark Bricknell spoke of the horror of finding his 13-year-old son Joe shaking and unable to recognise him 'as if he were possessed'.

Doctors immediately suspected meningitis and pumped Joe full of drugs – but he has improved and doctors now believe that he is suffering from a different infection.

Mr Bricknell, from Plymstock, said the presumed diagnosis was 'the best Christmas present he had ever had'.

He added: "There was a stage on Sunday when we thought we had lost him. News that he is going to make a full recovery is brilliant."

Doctors at West Middlesex Hospital near London are pleased with Joe's recovery.

He will be in hospital for about three weeks but the family hope he can be transferred to Derriford Hospital before Christmas.

News of Joe's condition alerted public health officials and prompted them to warn parents of Joe's classmates at Plymstock School about the symptoms of meningitis.

Mr Bricknell described how a sore throat as the family enjoyed a friend's birthday party overnight turned into a potential life-or-death situation.

Mr Bricknell, wife Lily, Joe and the couple's two daughters were attending the 18th birthday of a family friend in Feltham, West London.

He said that Joe complained of a sore throat on the journey but felt well enough to go to the party on Saturday night. Joe was then sick but seemed to perk up.

Mr Bricknell said: "We went back to the hotel and did not think anything of it. We just thought he had a stomach bug.

"We went to the chemist the next morning to get some medicine.

"When we got back he was shaking as if he were possessed. He did not want to be held and did not recognise us. There was nothing there."

The family called an ambulance which arrived 20 minutes later and rushed Joe to hospital.

Mr Bricknell said that doctors immediately assumed it was a case of meningitis.

He was so frantic that he had to be sedated so that doctors could get drugs in him to fight the condition.

Mr Bricknell was transferred to a children's ward where doctors had to take a sample of fluid from his spine so they could test for his condition.

Doctors came back with a presumed diagnosis of encephalitis, a similar but generally less serious infection of the brain, on Monday night.

The family hope that Joe will at least be back at Derriford Hospital for Christmas.