As you may already be aware we as a family, are holding a charity event now in February 2021 to raise money and awareness for the charity Meningitis Now. A few people have asked if there was any way of contributing to our fundraising as they are unable to attend the night itself. With that in mind we have decided to set up this page and really do appreciate any donations. 

Here is a brief background on my story....

I started Northumbria University in the September of 1995. During the October we went away on a field-trip to Scarborough. Its during this field-trip that I fell ill. I was 18 and symptoms came on very quickly. A Doctor was called and I was firstly wrongly diagnosed tonsillitis! This diagnosis lost me precious time and I was found the next day collapsed and unconscious. Luckily the doctor who was called out this time specialised in Meningitis and I was given an injection which enabled me to survive the ambulance journey to hospital.

I was placed on life support and diagnosed with Meningococcal Septicaemia type B. This was a very traumatic time for my family and they were told to prepare for the worse and say their goodbyes. To this day I have no idea how that must have felt, especially now having 3 daughters of my own 😢 However thanks to the amazing staff from within the NHS I started showing signs of improvement, and once taken off life support my recovery began. I feel extremely lucky to have survived. Side effects for me include tinnitus and extreme tiredness. These however are very common side affects of Meningitis and I am just very thankful to have survived and be here to tell my story. 

Our family was however hit again by Meningitis when my nephew also fell ill with Meningococcal Septicaemia in August 2014, he was aged only 5. Luckily, once again thanks to the fantastic work of the NHS he also went on to make a good recovery. This makes it even more important to the wider family that we raise as much money and awareness as possible.

Moving onto more recently, in October 2018 during a small routine operation I needed a general anaesthetic, the first time since having Meningitis. Following this procedure I was left extremely lethargic for over 3 weeks. At my 6 week check my consultant agreed that it was highly unusual. He thinks the general anaesthetic had possibly reacted with the imbalance of chemicals in my brain due to the Meningitis. Although there is no way of knowing if this is indeed correct, it is now on my notes that any further general anaesthetics will be a different one to the one normally given! I honestly never thought over 23 years later I’d be finding that out! And in all honestly gave me to push I needed to be proactive and do something to help. 

Thank you so much for reading and thank you in advance for any donations received, we really do as a family appreciate every penny. 

For further details on how to purchase tickets to our event please email charitynight2020@outlook.com 🧡