A Kiwi man has revisited his wedding venue for the first time since his wife died from a rare but serious disease just hours after exchanging their vows.
Five years ago Alistair Harford's wife Jamieka McCarthy-Ngapera died from Meningococcal B just 12 hours after they got married.
Meningococcal B is a rare but serious disease that kills 300,000 people globally every year. In 2019, there were 139 cases of meningococcal disease reported in New Zealand and 10 deaths.
Most cases of the disease start with a high fever, severe headache and stiff neck, however, a stiff neck is an uncommon symptom in young children. Vomiting and drowsiness often follow.
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On Thursday Hartford opened up about the horrific ordeal, revealing both he and Jamieka had no idea how sick she was until it was too late.
Hartford said his wife texted him at 3am the night before their wedding saying she had a sore neck and couldn't sleep.
"I woke up and saw that text and went, 'Oh, that's no good. I hope you're feeling better and make sure you get your bridesmaids to give you some pills and stuff like that'. And she replied, basically saying, 'Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better'," he told AM co-host Melissa Chan-Green.
Hartford said during the wedding ceremony he could tell something was off and Jamieka continued to get worse.
"She was walking down the aisle and when she got closer to where we were I just knew something wasn't quite right," he revealed.
"It was such a hot day, it was really hot. I had to get water bottles prepared for the guests and there were umbrellas and it was hot. But she was covered in goosebumps and I thought she was just sick."
Hartford said Jamieka continued to go downhill and ended up leaving the wedding early to get some rest.
But when he got home just after midnight, he said he instantly knew something wasn't right.
"I went to give her a kiss and say hello and just as I did, I stopped myself. She was just covered head to toe in a rash and I just instantly, instinctively knew that something was very wrong."
He called her family and told them to meet them at the hospital before rushing to A&E, where unfortunately the worst happened.
"I remember one of the doctors coming over and saying, 'They're just doing CPR and you're more than welcome to watch'… Not too long after that he came out and said that he was sorry but she was gone."
Hartford said Jamieka was beautiful and kind-hearted. Five years after her death he revisited their wedding venue for the first time, an experience he described as emotional but nice.
"When we parked up and walked up here, it definitely hit me. I had to just take a second to take it all in. So, yeah, it's a lot of emotion, but it's actually quite good to be back," he said.
"It's nice. The ceremony was really nice. That was nice to look back on. But, yeah, the rest of the day was just such a disaster… it's just a really bad nightmare."
His visit comes as he gears up to run a marathon a day for a week starting on Thursday to raise money and awareness for the Meningitis Foundation.
To donate to Alistair's fundraiser click here.
