MOTHER’S HOLIDAY BRAIN BUG ORDEAL
INFECTION LEAVES WOMAN UNABLE TO SEE, SPEAK OR SWALLOW:
A MUM’S Caribbean holiday of a lifetime turned into nightmare after she was struck down by an infection which left her unable to see, speak or swallow.
Cathrine Ndlovu had always wanted to take her mum on an all-inclusive break. And on August 23, Manchester Airport Border Force officer Cathrine, her seven-year-old son, aunty and mum all set off to the Be Live resort in the Dominican Republic for a twoweek break.
On the second day of the holiday Cathrine, from Newton Heath, began to suffer from earache.
That was the first of a series of symptoms to strike 32-year-old Cathrine during the holiday, caused by a devastating brain infection, which would lead to her being put in a medically induced coma on her return to Manchester.
The first time Cathrine visited doctors she was told the earache was because of problems with her wisdom teeth.
When the pain became unbearable she decided to have the teeth removed in a local hospital in the hope it would mean she could continue the vacation.
But the next day the pain became much worse and she started to lose her eyesight.
Cathrine returned to the hospital and was admitted for three days.
Medics said she had suffered a stroke, diagnosed her with Multiple Sclerosis and said there was something on her brain. By this point Cathrine was unable to drink, could not use her right arm and could not see out of her right eye.
Following her return, Cathrine was diagnosed with the brain infection encephalitis. Her brain stem had become damaged, affecting both sides of her body.
The infection can be caused by a mosquito bite or the herpes virus, but doctors have no idea what has caused it in Cathrine’s case.
She was placed in a medically induced coma and only started to be able to walk and breathe independently about a month ago.
Having spent time in intensive care at Manchester Royal Infirmary, she has now been transferred to Salford Royal Hospital where she will learn with specialists to talk and swallow again.
Her friend Kelly, 38, said: “Only a month ago she started being able to sit up and breathe on her own. She still can’t swallow, the part of her brain that does this has died. She needs a specialist physio.
“She wants to get home and be with her little boy. She is a single parent but her son didn’t see her for two months. It would have been too traumatic for him to see her. He is doing well considering, he goes there now to see her a couple of times a week. But he needs to be with his mum, and she needs to be home with him too.”
Colleagues at Border Force have launched a fundraising page to help Cathrine, collecting almost £1,450, with the aim to raise £2,000. For more information, visit gofundme.com/ hzdps2-1000.