KEY POINTS:
Martina Matic-Kennar was burying her sister-in-law when the headache started.
Pregnant with her "little princess", she dismissed the pain and went home to rest. Twenty-four hours later she was dead.
"Words cannot express the hurt of this," her husband, Tui Kennar, told the Weekend Herald.
"My only comfort is that she didn't go alone. She took with her our 19-week-old daughter Tatjana."
Mrs Matic-Kennar contracted pneumococcal meningitis, a strain of the disease that attacks 500 people each year. She was aged 33.
Her death and that of the baby girl she was carrying have taken an "unbearable toll" on the family.
Unborn baby Tatjana Teuila - a sister for 14-month-old Luka - was the "little princess who would complete our lives".
When the symptoms of the disease struck, Mrs Matic-Kennar was supporting her husband at the funeral of his sister, who had died of cancer.
"She left the funeral because of the headache. I was burying my sister. The next day I had lost my wife," said Mr Kennar. The 35-year-old told his story to the Weekend Herald in the hope that "no one else has to go through what our family is now facing".
An extension to the vaccine programme is now being considered.
"Luka is only 14 months old. It is sad that he is too young to have memories of his mum. For me, I've lost my angel - and the baby girl we were going to love together.
"I only hope I can bring up our son to be a man Martina can be proud of."
The Mt Albert couple celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in November. Mrs Matic-Kennar, who ran her own business designing and supplying corporate and wedding invitations, was born in Croatia but moved to New Zealand with her parents when she was a baby.
The couple had travelled to Upper Hutt for the funeral of Mr Kennar's sister on Tuesday, January 23. When Mr Kennar got back to his wife, she was feverish.
In the early hours of Wednesday her headache was so bad he called an ambulance, despite her protests. By the time conclusive tests had been done at Hutt Hospital, Mrs Matic-Kennar was having seizures.
"We were still communicating between the seizures," Mr Kennar said. "I told Martina that Luka was really well and happy. I told her, 'I love you and Luka loves you'. There were tears streaming down both our faces.
"Then there was a fourth seizure I vividly recall. After that she was not quite there any more. Her eyes said it. There was nothing left."
Doctors told Mr Kennar his wife could no longer breathe on her own.
"I still did not understand what they were saying," said Mr Kennar. "The registrar told me what that meant and then I collapsed on the bed against Martina. I realised it was over but I could not accept it. I've no idea how long I stayed like that."
Mrs Matic-Kennar was taken to the neurology unit at Wellington Hospital where her family flew in from Auckland. They arrived to the news at 2.30pm that there was no brain activity and nothing more could be done.
"It was so quick and we had no time," Mr Kennar said. "That, for me, is what hurts the most. Our last time together was just all pain."
Mrs Matic-Kennar had complained of a headache for a couple of days, but it was just 24 hours since the symptoms had taken hold. It is not known how she contracted the disease.
Her parents, who live in Te Atatu, find it too difficult to talk about their daughter. With her two sisters and the tight-knit Auckland-Croatian community, they are struggling to come to terms with the loss.
In tears, her mother, Suncana Matich, said: "The hospital called to say we should come now. Only then did I realise how serious it was, but by the time we got there it was too late. It does not make sense. This kind of thing just does not happen."
Mr Kennar said: "I thank God that I was lucky enough to have had [Martina] as my friend, my lover and the mother of my child."
Fate of vaccine awaits budget decision
Approval of the vaccine that might have prevented Martina Matic-Kennar's death will be determined in Finance Minister Michael Cullen's May 17 Budget.
It has been a four-year battle for the Meningitis Trust and other health lobbyists to see Prevenar introduced, with the campaign beginning in earnest at the start of last year.
If it gets the go-ahead it could be introduced as soon as next year.
Prevenar is designed for children under the age of 2. It stops the disease by killing the streptococcus bacteria that cause it. Overseas studies have shown the vaccine to be 97 per cent effective. It is Government-funded in countries including Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States.
The pneumococcal strain of meningitis affects about 500 New Zealanders each year. Most are children, elderly or people already unwell. Even when victims survive, a quarter are left with serious disabilities including cerebral palsy, epilepsy and deafness.
Tui Kennar said he did not want his wife's death to be in vain.
"I wish I could turn back time but I can't do that. It's too late. But if lives can be saved it confirms there's a purpose to what happened to Martina."
The course of four Prevenar injections costs more than $100.
Diana Lennon, professor of child and youth health at the University of Auckland, said Prevenar had shown amazing results in other countries.
"It's frustrating to have to wait."
* The Meningitis Trust has 385 "Toddle Waddle" events happening around the country.
The sponsored fundraising walks run from February 23 to March 18.
