Rugby star Matt Dawson backs meningitis campaign after revealing son's battle with deadly disease

*WARNING: Some viewers may find some of the images in this story upsetting.*

England rugby star Matt Dawson has revealed his two-year-old son Sami is battling meningitis.

The former England captain turned TV pundit said the family had gone through "two weeks of hell" but Sami was expected to make a recovery.

Thanking medics from London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, Dawson said: "Sami is lucky due to amazing people."

Two-year-old Sami is one of the 'lucky' ones, his dad said. Credit: Twitter/Matt Dawson

Writing on Twitter, he said he had been "umming and ahhing about whether I should write the next post, but my wife and I have agreed it's important."

He then warned his 250,000 followers the pictures he was about to post "may be upsetting".

They show little Sami hooked up to tubes and covered in spots and rashes as he bravely fought the disease, which can kill within hours.

After sharing his story, Dawson later added the family were "overwhelmed" by all the messages of support.

He is now urging people to sign a petition for all children, not just babies, to be vaccinated against meningitis B up to the age of 11.

Two-year-old Faye Burdett died from meningitis on Valentine's Day. Credit: Jenny Burdett

It comes after Jenny Burdett shared this heartbreaking picture of her two-year-old daughter Faye, who died from meningitis on Valentine's Day.

The family, from Maidstone in Kent, were given just a 1% chance of survival but little Faye carried on fighting for 11 days until she "finally fell asleep forever".

Mrs Burdett is also calling on people to back the petition saying: "All children are at risk from this terrible infection.

"There needs to be a rollout programme to vaccinate all children, at least up to age 11."