However, when they checked her later that evening they found a rash all over her skin and immediately called for an ambulance. Her father, Oliver, tells their story.
“On 15 September 2010, Isabelle went off to school as a normal seven-year-old but soon came home unwell.
“She had symptoms very similar to the stomach bug that was doing the rounds of the playground - fever, sickness, diarrhoea and a headache – but she seemed to get better after Calpol.
“I remember her lying on the sofa whilst we ate and not asking for some food - a small thing but unusual. We put her to bed, still thinking it was just a bug. We checked on her after a while and noticed lots of blotches, like big bruises. At this point we panicked and phoned an ambulance.
“As soon as the paramedic arrived he thought meningitis, gave Isabelle antibiotics and she was swept off to hospital.
“We thought that was it, that we had caught it in time. It was only a few hours after Isabelle came home from school after all. However Isabelle had to fight through the night.
"She was put into a coma, given lots of blood products, and transferred to the Nottingham QMC. We arrived after her to see that she had got worse - having been given adrenaline to keep her heart going and a less than 1% chance of survival. She had contracted MenB.
“Thankfully for us Isabelle made it and is still with us. However the meningitis did not leave her unscathed and she is now a quadruple amputee.
“Isabelle has to live daily with the after-effects of her meningitis, as every simple task is made so much harder for her. Despite this, Isabelle is doing really well and has recently moved to secondary school and won a trampolining competition!
In early 2018, Izzy was invited to the states to present at a TEDX talk on living with disability; watch the video below:
