Don’t risk it! This vaccine saves lives
I WAS saddened to hear about 23-yearold estate agent Abigail Harris, who went to bed with what she thought was a cold, but died from bacterial meningitis (Mail). Her family want to raise awareness about the disease because they do not want others to suffer as they have. I have contracted meningitis twice and am lucky to have survived to tell the tale. The first time was in 1994 when I contracted the viral form, possibly from a hotel hot tub. I was off work for six months, but made a full recovery. I have always been an athlete and returned to a high level of performance, winning county veteran championships. Last September, I was struck down by the bacterial form of meningitis. I was running or doing some other form of exercise most days and was due to compete in a 70-plus 200m race. Earlier last year, I had completed my 50th 5km parkrun. But my health had noticeably been on the decline. I’d had two chest infections and my parkrun times were getting worse. Yet in the week before I became ill, approaching my 73rd birthday, I did a 45-minute gym session followed by a swim and the next day I went interval session running in the woods. The day I collapsed, I had chosen not to join my running group, and didn’t feel up to doing my volunteering role in a local theatre or attending a Rotary Club meeting. I went to bed at 11pm and that is the last thing I remember. Six days later, I came out of intensive care. My wife had followed me upstairs and found me sprawled over the bed, sweating profusely. She immediately rang emergency services — that call certainly saved my life. It was a close shave: I was on a ventilator while specialists did what was necessary to keep me alive. I was in hospital for seven months and have now been in a nursing home for the past five weeks. I survived, but am profoundly deaf, wheelchair-bound and my eyesight is seriously impaired. Improvements have been slow, but I am blessed with caring family and friends who visit regularly. I have been able to hold my latest grand-daughter, who was born just before Christmas. With luck and a lot of help, I will be able to return home. Experiencing life with the invisible disability of deafness has been an enlightening experience. My illness has had a massive impact on my wife and autistic 27-year-old son. I have been fortunate to have seen and experienced the NHS at its brilliant best. But the moral of the story is seriously to consider having the vital vaccination that Abigail Harris missed. She had MenC vaccinations as a baby and pre-school, but was in the wrong age bracket for vaccination with the ACWY vaccine: too old for the school year 9/10 schedule and then in the second year of university. She was unaware it was available for those aged up to 25 from the GP. The vaccination would probably have saved Abigail’s life and it is likely it would have stopped me getting meningitis for a second time.
MIKE MARTINEAU, Biggin Hill, Kent.