Richard Hudson, Digital Media Manager with Meningitis Trust, has written an exclusive guest blog post on how twitter quite possibly saved a young boy's life...

This week, for over 48 hours and counting, Meningitis Trust supporters, Chris and Katy Mann aka @mannix1000, have been on an awareness mission using their Twitter profile.

Chris and Katy tragically lost their three month-old son, Charlie, to meningitis in October 2010 and are so passionate to help save lives from this devastating disease, which took their baby son away.

The husband and wife team took on the challenge of contacting celebrities and well-known tweeters, and asking them to help, just by simply retweeting this message. “Hi please help with a RT. Meningitis awareness, my son died age 3 months. http://charliecheekychops.blogspot.com/ thanks.” Simple, but so effective.

During their mission, they received the tweet they dreamt of. Comic Ed Byrne @MrEdByrne kindly retweeted the couple’s message. Hours later they received a tweet on January 12, 2011 in the early hours which made all of the hard work worthwhile “@mannix1000 @mredbyrne Meningitis tweet prob saved my son today; I got a second opinion and they called the ambulance. Thank you both. X”

Hundreds of people have supported this mission by simply retweeting and reading Charlie’s blog. The blog has received over 36,000 hits since it was created and is now one of the main sources that lead internet users to the Meningitis Trust’s website, where people can get the vital disease information that will save lives.

This year the Trust is celebrating 25 years of supporting people after meningitis. It has come a long way since it started and is using social media and the wonders of digital technology to reach even more people with awareness and support.

The recent YouTube video of “Please ReTweet Me” has seen the Trust really embrace digital and it is not stopping.; certainly not after the success of Chris and Katy’s mission.

Meningitis will never go away; it’s a disease that can strike in minutes and kill within hours, and the Trust will continue to be there for the families who have faced meningitis, just like the Mann’s, for as long as they are needed.

Follow the Trust today @meningitistrust and if you see anything you like, why not give a simple retweet. You never know, it could be you that saves a life.