Mother: Student doesn't have meningitis

By Annette Beard

Posted: October 3, 2012 at 2:16 p.m.

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Nathaniel Jones, the previously unidentified student from Pea Ridge Middle School, does not have viral meningitis, his mother, Chastity Jones, said Wednesday.

Speaking from Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Jones said her son has been diagnosed with an autoimmune deficiency and is not contagious. She said he is in recovery right now, a process which will be “very, very slow."

“We’re in the most wonderful place,” she said, adding that Nathaniel is opening his eyes and taking breaths on his own. There is a Facebook page — the “Nathaniel Jesse James Jones Recovery” page for Nathaniel. A bank account has also been set up at Arvest Bank, as well.

Mrs. Jones said that because of the initial symptoms, viral meningitis was considered as a possible diagnosis. The middle school in Pea Ridge and a school bus were disinfected after Jones was airlifted to the hospital.

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