In February last year I contracted bacterial meningitis. At the time I was pretty out of it. Looking back I realise just how scary it must have been for my family. My son, Finn, was also on the children's ward with suspected meningitis, but by some miracle he didn't have it. My dad stayed with him and my mum with me while my husband, Rich, was running from one ward to the other to be with both of us.

I remember my mum's hand shaking as she held mine and the look of utter fear on Rich's face. I was pretty ill. The worst thing for me was that I was quarantined so I couldn't see finn for 7 days.

This was all just over a year ago and I'm fine absolutely now. I suffered from bad headaches for a few months and I lost my sense of smell for a bit, but that soon returned. I got off very lightly. Some people aren't as fortunate as me. Meningitis can leave people blind, deaf or brain damaged, and that's if they survive.

So it's for this reason that I've decided to dust off my cushioned gel seat and cycle 297 miles from London to Paris in aid of Meningitis UK. Their sole focus is on prevention and funding lifesaving research to erradicate all forms of meningitis. Although fantastic progress has been made over the last 20 years, there is still no vaccine available to protect against all forms of meningitis and associated diseases, including the most common form in the UK - meningococcal group B, which causes almost 90% of all cases.

I wouldn't want anyone to go through what me and my family had to endure last year, so please, please give what you can and help find a vaccine for this terrible disease - thanks, Amy xx

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