A student who spent five days in an induced coma after contracting meningitis B at university is urging teenagers heading to higher education to take up a newly available free vaccine. Leo Strider, 24, from York, fell critically ill while studying at the University of Nottingham, initially mistaking his symptoms for a hangover or "freshers' flu" before his condition rapidly worsened. His appeal comes as high street pharmacies across England begin offering the MenB vaccine to sixth formers before they leave for university, following a fatal meningitis outbreak among students in Kent earlier this year.

Strider described losing feeling down one side of his body and struggling to communicate before an ambulance was called, and said he still experiences weakness on his right side and memory loss after waking from the coma. Pharmacists have warned that a new strain of meningitis B has become more prevalent this year and that cases typically peak in autumn when students arrive at university in shared accommodation. Eighteen-year-old Lily Pudner, who had just finished her A-levels, became the first person vaccinated at a Sheffield pharmacy, saying the Kent outbreak had convinced her to act before starting her gap year.