Henley-on-Thames has a certain charm in May. The college on Deanfield Avenue is moving through the rhythms of the summer term, with students wandering between buildings, mock results returning, and conversations shifting to what comes next. The river is bustling with crews getting ready for the regatta, and the cafés on the high street fill up early. Because it’s a small town, everyone knows someone who knows someone. This helps explain why the past week’s events have felt so weighty.
Meningococcal disease claimed the life of Henley College student Lewis Waters. Lewis’s father, Sean, posted on social media that the ICU staff tried to save him but were unable, and that Lewis developed sepsis within a few hours of feeling ill. He characterized his son as humorous, outgoing, compassionate, and loyal to his sisters and friends. When you read those words, it’s difficult to ignore the discrepancy between the news article’s actual content and how it was reported.
Since then, the UK Health Security Agency has verified three cases of meningococcal infection in the Reading region; the other two patients were students at Highdown Secondary School and Sixth Form Center and Reading Blue Coat School. According to testing, this is not the same strain of MenB that caused outbreaks in Kent and Dorset earlier in the year. In March, lines for vaccines and antibiotics stretched around the University of Kent campus. As a precaution, close contacts have been given antibiotics, and medical professionals are assuring people that meningitis does not spread quickly and that there is still little risk to the general public.
Founded in 1987 and transformed into a sixth form college in 2010, Henley College itself blends in seamlessly with the town’s character. It is the type of place that frequently shares information about its rowing students, work-experience placements at City law firms, and its new welfare dog, Poppy, who started making campus visits last week in an effort to raise awareness of mental health issues. In light of what has transpired, reading those posts now creates an odd double exposure. Green ribbons and messages about Mental Health Awareness Week abound in one feed. Condolence statements abound in the following.
The official response from the college has been succinct and cautious. It stated that it is supporting those impacted in its community while adhering to health authorities’ advice and that its thoughts are with the student’s family and friends during a very trying time. In this situation, a college is limited in what it can say. Anything more would be considered going too far. Anything less would be meaningless.
The texture of a place like this when something like this occurs is more difficult to depict. Lessons are still being taught. The Hart Surgery has informed patients that there is no plan for an emergency vaccination program, that confirmed cases are still extremely low, and that staff and students are encouraged to attend college as usual. In response to the inevitable spike in local anxiety, the nearby Wheatley Pharmacy has discreetly announced that it has the MenB vaccine in stock. Freddie van Mierlo, the local MP, has advised people to familiarize themselves with the symptoms of meningitis.
Observing this from the outside gives the impression that Henley College will handle this the way small institutions typically do—slowly and with more sorrow than will be apparent from a distance. The term continues. There will be a regatta. Exams will be taken by students. In the midst of all of that, a local family is attempting to come to terms with the death of a son who, according to his father, had a lot of life left.
