“Three months ago today, the 1st July 2016, was the worst day of my life.
“It was the day after my 19th birthday and I woke up with a simple headache, but little did I know that in just 24 hours that headache was the reason why I nearly died!
“Throughout that whole day I had a headache but I just thought I had a little bit of a muggy head or maybe I was coming down with a cold, so I just took some tablets and relaxed for most of the day.
“Until 11pm that night. I was in bed when all of a sudden this pain like I have never felt before just took over my whole head. It felt like my head was actually going to explode. I couldn't move at all because even if I moved a finger, the pain would only just get worse.
“Eventually I gave in and called out for my mum who was in bed in the next room. She came running in to see what was wrong, I told her what was happening, but every word I said only made the pain worse. At this point I was sweating; I was so hot I felt like an oven set to 200 degrees. She got me some water and tablets and sat me upright till I was comfortable and the pain was just about bearable.
“She sat with me for a while till I told her I was okay, so she went back to bed even though she only had a few hours till she had to get up for her holiday. I somehow fell asleep and mum woke me up before she left to check on me and I said I was fine as I did feel a lot better. The last thing she told me was that she'd asked my elder sister to check on me in the morning as she thought my Crohn’s disease was flaring up, so she wanted someone here with me.
“But it wasn’t Crohn’s disease – it was meningitis. I was admitted to hospital and was in the Princess Alexandra Hospital for three-and-a-half weeks. I’m so grateful to the staff at the hospital - it’s because of them I am here today.”
