LITTLE Sebastian Harter-Jones giggles as he runs across the living room and buries his face in his mother's lap.

Then he gives you a cheeky grin, and you can't imagine that this lively little boy has known anything but happiness and health.

Yet when Sebastian was only nine weeks old, he was rushed to York Hospital with suspected meningitis, launching his family on a terrifying roller-coaster ride.

Sebastian, who lives in Dringhouses, York, was so ill that doctors were unable to test him for the meningitis they feared he had.

They decided to treat him as though he had the disease anyway, stripping him to his nappy in an incubator and training a fan on to his body in an effort to bring his temperature down. For six days Sebastian's mum, Ruth, never left his side.

She told the Evening Press: "Sebastian was assessed and treated as an extreme emergency, so they put him on a drip and fed him intravenous antibiotics.

"He was in a little room on his own next to the nurses' station for about six days and the first couple were the most serious.

"He was extremely ill and it was total panic-stations for the first two days, and with him being so young it probably looked so much more serious."

When Sebastian was well enough, doctors performed a lumbar puncture which showed a negative result to meningitis.

Ruth, 37, said because Sebastian had been treated by then, all tests would have been negative, but they were still necessary to ensure his body was clear of infection.

Doctors suspected a severe virus or urinary tract infection had caused Sebastian's frightening illness.

Ruth said it was comforting to have been able to sit in a room with her son, even though all the equipment had to be wheeled in when they needed it.

"I was so grateful that we could stay in York," she said.

"It would have been horrific to go to Leeds because I did not leave the hospital for six days and I have two other children that found it extremely distressing.

"The staff were extremely patient and it was good to have them so close by.

"When Sebastian got a bit better, I could carry him around the room and sing to him, which I would have been worried about doing if he was in a ward in case we disturbed the other children and mums."

Ruth stressed a dedicated high-dependency unit would make all the difference. "The doctors had to wheel stuff in when we needed it.

"There was not an emergency with Sebastian where there was a rush for equipment.

"But if it was a child where there really was no time to lose, it would really help to have all the equipment already in the room."

Sebastian is now fully back to health. Ruth said: "He's gorgeous; a really sunny baby. He's very vocal and very pleasant. You would never know he had been poorly."

Ruth urged readers to support Guardian Angels. "You never know whether your child will need to go into hospital and it could be you one day in that dreadful situation.

"Within 48 hours Sebastian went from being a totally healthy baby to somebody who was desperately ill.

"It was a shock to us and an extremely worrying time. It really could happen to anyone."

Updated: 09:37 Monday, October 10, 2005