Paralysed To Galvanised

REAL LIFE TRANSFORMATIONS

I was seven when I was diagnosed with meningitis, it’s one of those things I remember as a child and not much else before that. I sat in a wheelchair as I heard the harrowing diagnosis from the doctor, paralysed from the neck down; unable to move and practically unable to speak.

I was lucky that my mum worked at the hospital and spotted the symptoms; had she not of, I’m positive I wouldn’t be alive today to recount my story. In the eighties meningitis wasn’t as recognised as it is today. I can still remember undergoing the scans to see which areas were affected and receiving the devastating news that my neck and spine were infected. I was overwhelmed with emotion; the sensation of only being able to move my eyes, and nothing else was terrifying. “You have no strength and need to eat” said the caring nurse, who couldn’t hide the sympathy in her eyes. She explained that I needed to get the infection out of my body as quickly as possible or the consequences would be fatal.

My mum stayed with me at the hospital, unsure if I would pull through. After several long weeks I managed my first solid food; a blissful bag of chips… only to projectile vomit them back up for five solid minutes! Strangely, I felt as though all the bacteria left my body during this process. The next day, I started to move my neck. Within days I started to feel the rest of my body again and was fully discharged just a week later.