MENINGITIS SPECIAL REPORT
Karen Ireland talks to an Antrim mother who lost her student son to the disease, a Hillsborough dad-ofone who survived the illness and a Dungiven mum whose baby fell ill at just three months old
Sinn Fein councillor for Newry and Mourne Naomi Bailie, (31), originally from Ballygalget, Portaferry, returned home last week after being hospitalised at Christmas where she was in a coma for five weeks after contracting meningitis.
She also underwent six rounds of surgery after collapsing at her home on December 7 last year.
Naomi, who has a baby daughter, Niadh, said that when the symptoms struck she thought it was a bad headache as she suffers from migraines.
Figures from charity Meningitis Now have revealed that eight people in Northern Ireland die from the disease every year.
And of those survivors 14,500 people here are struggling to cope with the life-changing after-effects of meningitis.
While children under five and young people are the most vulnerable, adults can also be struck down with meningitis.