Found on the floor
The next morning, he had a bath to try and soothe his aching muscles. During the morning his son called to get an emergency appointment with his local GP. It took over two hours for the GP to call back to say that it was probably a winter virus.
The GP advised that if his symptoms did not improve by the next day, he should make an appointment at the surgery.
At 2.30pm the same day, his daughters had to help Bahman as he could no longer walk on his own. His joints and muscles were still in excruciating pain. A small rash started to appear, but as he often got rashes when he was cold his family didn’t think anything of it.
Two hours later Bahman was found on the floor, his daughters had to carry him to bed. He had pale cold hands; his wife found a bruise on his cheek, he didn’t know how it got there, and she found more on his wrist, waist and ankles, as well as a strange purple rash under his skin.
Seriously ill
His wife telephoned the GP surgery who said that she should bring Bahman to the surgery immediately. Still unable to walk the family struggled to get him there.
On arrival at the surgery he was seen by a GP, and a second opinion was called for. They believed Bahman had septicaemia. After being rushed to A&E, he was immediately surrounded by doctors and nurses who began the fight to save his life.
His family were told to prepare for the worst, and doctors gave Bahman a less than 10% chance of survival. A few hours later, his organs began to fail and he was put on life support.
Bahman had contracted meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia. The disease caused extensive damage to his body and he spent five months in hospital.
After-effects
During those five months, Bahman had to have both his legs below the knee, his right hand above his wrist and all of his fingers and thumb on his left hand amputated.
Within 24 hours life changed for Bahman and his entire family completely, the disease may have only taken a short time to strike, but its impact on his life has been enormous. The BT engineer could no longer do his job, his mobility had been severely restricted and undertaking simple everyday tasks was a constant challenge.
Life after meningitis
Meningitis Now has supported Bahman and his wife Lesley, providing a friendly voice on the end of the phone and offering counselling for both of them.
Despite the severity of Bahman's after-effects he still lives life to the full, playing football with his friends and learning to paint with his prosthetic limbs. In the autumn of 2012 he trekked the Great Wall of China to raise money for Meningitis Now - a remarkable achievement for a man whose life had been so severely altered just two years before.
Bahman is a warm, positive and inspirational man. He has recently become a Community Ambassador for us and Meningitis Now is proud to call him our friend and supporter.
